Wind and Water
by Draconai
Summary: Betwixt is a land where there are few people who can't handle themselves in a fight. Ventus is not one of these people - but a mistranslation on the walls of a temple might make him seem helpless against the foes that come after him. All he can do is sharpen his blade, strengthen his body - and pray that his wind has not lost its way. SCDC or AU, Ven/Aqua, Vanitas/Aqua, Ven/Fuu
1. Enter the Swift Winds

Draco: Whoever designed the submission system was an idiot. Any self-respecting online writing site should run on a write-it-here system where a user can just get to the writing without having to open a word program. And Prologues should be an option. Anyways, I'm gonna give this a shot. Be warned however that this will not be updated as frequently as my deviantART stuff will be updated because this is a side project, not a main project. Besides, if all hits fan I'm outta here anyways.

So begins my first submission! Let me see, how am I gonna run this... old-style battle in the form of the Land of Departure guys, hell in the form of their opponent necrans, deities in the form of some of the Twilight gang, minor guys in the form of varying Disney characters, and possibly something in the form of XIII. Ventus/Aqua, Vanitas/Aqua, slight Ventus/Fujin, and Roxas/Xion as a side thing if the Org shows up. Varying levels of cursing with just about everyone, minor blood unless Vanitas and Aqua run into each other, and maybe a few jokes from Vanitas.

Ooh, right, copyright shenanagins/disclaimers. If I owned Kingdom Hearts, most SoKai variations would be inarguably canonic, yaoi fans would be sued broke, and _Birth by Sleep_ would hit a rating of M when Vanitas and Aqua met up in Neverland. The χ-blade would be a Kingdom Key L and a Kingdom Key D, Riku would be wearing dragonskin, and Eraqus and Xehanort would wear their Keyblade Armour when they fought Terra. Axel and Larxene would be a thing, the term Samhain would be used by the islanders when they showed up at Halloween Town, and Roxas and Ventus would be throwing angel wingblades around like kunai. Or maybe shuriken. So either thank or curse Square Enix for owning all Kingdom Hearts things. Disney wouldn't be changed much, so just thakn them.

Sorry I took so long. Enjoy the show!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Enter the Swift Winds**

"Hey, airhead!"

The words fell unheard halfway across the battleground. The small village known as Half Enix was a good down with good people, but it doesn't matter where you go - there are people who cannot keep their traps shut. They will never leave you alone if they can find something about you to poke fun at - your behavior, your appearance, how you act towards who.

Ventus - known among those he was on amiable terms with as Ven - was good at ignoring them. He was a regular target of Half Enix's jerk pack, the guys who would never introduce themselves past 'the Dusks'. It was unknown whether they were a family group, or a gang, or what. They all wore identical suits - white skin suits, with the hands enveloped in white points and faces obscured by zippered hoods. Ven knew firsthand that they were all handy in a fight, but they never put it in the right place unless there were asses to be kicked and toffee to be chewed.

Ven let his fingers linger on the handle at his belt as the torrent of insults came forward.

"What'sa matter? Someone else wipe you out already?"  
"Haven't even got the nerve to talk to us, huh?"  
"Come on, windly, say something!"

Then again, the place wasn't a perfect, peaceful town in a land full of perfect, peaceful towns. Half Enix was a village in the land known as Betwixt. If you have been to Betwixt and not half-died multiple times, you're either lying or godly. If you recognized the inhuman things you face beyond vaguely, you've been there before. And if you don't carry some form of weapon on your waist, back, or leggings, well, we're going to have to take you to the nearest forge and get you some replacements.

Half Enix was better than most, but you just don't live in Betwixt without a weapon. Ven's weapon of choice was a simple, curved, single-edged sword that he kept at his belt on his right. It was nothing special, but it had been the first blade he'd ever drawn and he'd kept it. It was well-balanced, aerodynamic, and fast like a knife. If he drew it one day to find it wasn't long enough to keep up with him, he'd get his job done fast and get a new one forged so that it was almost identical.

Ven made his way out of town when the Dusks got bored. Few other villagers wandered outside the Half Enix boundaries, but Ven liked being just out in the open, free to be free. He would fight if he had to fight; keeping in shape was a small price to pay to enjoy being away from others, and for Ven, that was his idea of normal.

Little did he know today was not going to be a normal day.

+x+x+x+

When the surface under Ven's feet shifted from rough stone paving to natural surface, he took a quick glance around. No one and nothing around. He arced his hands into the air with a slight yawn and drew his blade in preparation. It was a well-known fact that if you stepped out of the village, you were immediately known among the wild things as potential prey. Ven liked his peace and quiet, but that didn't mean he was an idiot.

The peace and quiet shattered.

A ripple emerged against the ground, almost like a ripple of water. From the center of the ripple emerged an indistinguishable shape, a dark, toned-down shade of blue. It shot into the air maybe a foot before zipping back and forth and connecting with the ground. As it did, it took form - a small figure that was somewhat humanoid, and yet not - a strange figure with eyes that looked more like markings, a shadowy colour of red.

Ven was startled. He wasn't familiar with this opponent. It twitched around, its behavior impatient, with a curiosity not unlike that of a rodent. Tenatively, he reached back with his right hand and closed his fingers around the grip of his sword.

The creature shot forward.

Ventus drew his sword.

One of the reasons he was a target of the Dusks was his battle style. Most swordsmen had their blades in a standard grip for range, power, and the ability to put a hand on the flat of your blade. Ven, however, held his in a backhand grip, with the flat of his sword against his arm, for speed, agility, and a slight level of stealth. His sword was a steel blade with a light shade of cobalt, with a hilt of gold-brass and a handle wrapped in swift leather. He lashed out at the rushing creature, expecting his strike to spilt the small foe.

The blade passed through his opponent like it wasn't there.

Ven shouted and arced away from the leaping foe. More shot up, identical to the first, forming a circle around him. Ven turned, holding his blade ready, but he knew it was futile - his blade was useless. Desperately, he hurled it towards one of his opponents, but it passed through in the same manner. With a swift leap, he arced over a rushing opponent and sped out of the gap it had opened. The strange creatures saw him run, turned, and dashed after him with quick, sharp movements that sounded like a stick on water.

His eyes darted back and forth, looking for something to take refuge in. His eyes caught sight of a tall, jagged tree not far away, and he burst towards it, his feet moving rapidly below him. When he came close enough, Ven let his foot connect with the trunk and dashed upward, his shoes scraping against the bark as he grabbed the lowest branch. With swift movements, he raced up the tree; but the sounds of his opponents did not slow, and he knew they were after him.

He hit the peak of the tree and froze. There was no above to climb, and his foes were approaching below him. To jump at this height would be suicide. He couldn't sprout wings and fly down, and he had nothing to slow his fall with. There was no escape, no survival. Oh, what a fool he had been, to take refuge in a trap.

Ven raised his eyes to the sky above him.

It was sudden, the change was. One moment the clouds in the sky were a gloomy grey, as though taunting Ventus; _Didn't you see this coming?_ Then, unexpectedly, unexplainably, the clouds turned black, and thunder roared in the sky. The creatures below him stopped, and one that could have snapped at Ven's leg jolted away.

_Oh, great_, Ven thought. _I could have been killed by mystery monsters. Now I get fried by lightning._

Lightning did indeed strike down; but it did not hit Ventus. It arced along the edge of the tree, missing his fingers by inches, and sounds like parting water emerged as the bolt sheared off whatever it struck. When it was gone, one side of the tree was stripped clean of branches and bark, as well as a smoky black colour. The tree itself was not broken, not cracked, not cut, not so much as chipped.

Ven's eyes blinked. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but he had a feeling that he had just experienced something along the lines of a miracle. Slowly, he made his way down the tree, careful not to touch the scorched edge.

"Hey, what're you doin' here?"

The backhand swordsman nearly fell out of the tree. His hands released the branch they were holding, but he managed to hook his legs around another branch and remain upright. Standing at the base of the tree, in the scarred black area that signifies a lightning bolt strike, was a muscular figure who looked like he was made to fight. His garments consisted of an orange muscle shirt with ornate lightningbolt patterns, long blue leggings of dark electric blue, and a black necklace with a voltic design. On his shoulders rested pauldrons of black patterned with volt-gold. His hair was dark and spiky, and his eyes seemed to burn.

He was gazing up at Ven, who was looking at him in shock, upside down from the branches, and chuckled. "It's not safe to be 'round a tree in a thunderstorm, y'know?"

"I... they... it..." Ven shook his head. "Did you just come down with the lightning?"

As though on cue, ripples of darkness emerged from around them. The newcomer glanced around at the sound as the foes landed and muttered under his breath. Ven couldn't quite make it out, but he heard something about songs and a few choice words about where they could put each other's strikes. His hand reached back, and Ven could have sworn he saw his pauldrons dancing with... electicity?

Bolts of lightning surged out of his hands, extending in either direction. Ven yelped as the electricity started to thicken, forming a weapon much like a Bo Staff. With a deadly power, the warrior lashed forward, the weapon sending his opponents flying. It also took out a large portion of the tree's trunk, leaving Ventus unsure if he should keep out of his defender's range or off of the falling tree.

Fortunately, it only took two more strikes before the creatures had fallen. Ven tenatively stepped down off the tree as the fighter turned to him. "So what's your name?" he asked. "Can't just go shoutin' 'you' when I'm tryin' to talk, y'know?"

"Um... Ventus," Ven replied. "Did you just..."

"The name's Raijin, y'know?" the warrior replied. "You can call me Rai, though. Just makes things easier, y'know?"

Ven shook his head. "Look, uh... Raijin, you're going to need to explain something to me. Who are you, how did you get here, what is that thing..."

Rai raised his hand. "Slow down, y'know?" he mused. "I'm gonna start with the last one. I call this buddy _Kaminari_, y'know?" He spun the quarterstaff in hand, causing Ven to leap out of the way, before digging it into the ground and leaning on it. "Next on the list, yeah, I came with the lightnin', y'know? I'm a thunder guy, obviously I'm gonna do the lightning and volts, y'know? And finally..."

"Raijin!"

The voice echoed around, causing Ven to yelp and leap back onto the tree. A swirl of wind appeared nearby, causing Rai to stand like a soldier at attention. His weapon became a shaft of electricity that faded into his hands. The wind became a twister for a brief moment; when it parted, there was another figure standing there. This one was a girl; a small, lithe figure who looked like she could kick some serious rear end. Her garments were a sleeveless zippered jacket, and almost tropical-looking leggings, but her hair was a deadly steel blue that flowed over one eye. The visible eye was bright crimson, and it seemed to hold a kind of wind that was almost... unworldly.

The girl glanced at Ven before turning to Rai. The fighter started to speak; "Hey, look, I can explain-"

He didn't get a chance to finish before the girl landed a kick on his leg that looked painful. Rai shouted, stumbled back, and hit the ground roughly. The newcomer glared at him for a moment before turning to Ven, who stood as Rai had and kept quiet.

"Name?"

Ven took a second or two before he realized she was talking to him. "Ventus," he replied quickly.

The girl glanced around before returning her gaze to him. "Weapon?"

"Sword," Ven replied, then added "but I lost it earlier when those things attacked me."

She glanced at the sheath on his belt, then at his right arm. "Style?"

Ven had to think about that for a moment. "Fast blows, sometimes hit-and-run, but I usually-"

He was cut off by the girl shaking her head, not as though he were not answering, but rather as he did not understand. "Grip?"

"Oh, uh, backhand," he replied. He made a motion like reaching for his belt and drawing a blade.

The girl looked over him for a while. Ven resisted the urge to move, even when his back started to itch like mad. It had actually subsided by the time she was done. Finally, she sighed and looked away, as though in thought.

"Maybe," she muttered to herself. Turning back to Ven, she added. "Ease."

Ven realized he had been holding his breath and let it out, his shoulders going slack. The girl held out her hand, and Ven reacted, raising his hands in defense, before he realized that she was offering it to shake. "Fujin," she replied when he had lowered his guard.

"Ventus," he replied, although he had said so already. "My friends call me Ven." He took the hand and shook it. "I'm sorry, but... what are you guys?"

Fujin paused. "Kami," she said after a moment. Ven raised an eyebrow. "Wind," she added, beckoning to herself.

The boy paused for a moment. "Um... what is... kami?"

"She means we're gods, y'know?"

Ven whirled around in shock. Fujin snapped around to Rai, who had got to his feet, then stepped forward and gave him another deadly kick. Rai howled and hopped back, trying - and failing to succeed in - not grabbing his leg in pain.

"You... you guys are... _gods_?" Ven tried to find his words. "You guys look completely normal!"

Fujin sighed, this time in exasperation. "Affirmative," she replied.

Rai stepped forward. When Fujin didn't kick him again, he explained. "We've been kinda roamin', y'know? Big old godly foretell and all that, can't just let hell break loose, y'know? Those monsters you were fightin' - they were the start of it."

"You said something about verses?" Ven asked.

"Unversed," Fujin corrected.

A nod from Rai. "We need somebody who's gonna burn on the fire and cool down the ice, y'know? Gods ain't supposed to be throwin' their spells around at the humans until they _actually_ start raisin' hell, y'know? Where ya from?"

Ven shook his head to clear his mind. "Half Enix," he stated, unsure whether to explain or not.

Evidently not. Rai nodded. "Nice little town. Not far from point one. Not too far from point one, right?" he asked, turning to Fujin.

"Half-day," she replied. "South-southeast."

Rai nodded. "Not too tough," he mused. "Kid, we want you to head home, y'know?" he added, turning to Ven. "Pack your bags, say see ya to your friends, kiss the dirt for old times' sake, the lot. And grab a compass, y'know? Y'need your directions. Then you get outta town and walk for a day 'bout 165 south-southeast. You'll see this big place, y'know?"

Ven was getting confused, but all he could say was, "What does it look like?"

"Ya know it when ya see it, y'know? When you get there, tell them Fujin and Raijin sent ya and they shouldn't hit you too hard, y'know?" Rai started to laugh.

Fujin kicked him again.

Rai stopped laughing. "They'll give ya the directions, tell ya what's goin' on, y'know? Then you're off." He turned away and raised his hands.

Thunder crashed, and Ven glanced around before leaping in a direction that was neither towards Raijin nor towards the tree. A bolt of lightning struck down and hit Raijin, and Ven saw his body become electrical particles before he vanished. There was another boltstrike area where Rai had been standing.

Fujin turned towards Ven like this was perfectly normal. "Gift," she stated.

"Huh? Gift?" Ven reached into his pockets, looking for something. "Um, I dunno, I haven't got much on me..."

A raised hand made him pull his hands out of his pockets and stand straight. Fujin shook her head. "To you," she explained. She brought her hand back and held it out before her, fingers splayed. Wind streaked forward from around her gathering before her palm. It slowly took the form of what looked like a sword, with a distinct curve across the edge.

Then it solidified, and Ven's jaw hit the earth.

It was a sword, that much was clear from the razor-sharp edge. But it was also a wing - a curved wing of platinum white, covered with engraved feathers. The handle was wrapped in jet-black velvet that somehow seemed haous.

Slowly, Ven reached forward and closed his hand around the handle so that he held it in a backhand grip. A surge of light tore through him, and he stumbled backwards. The sheath on his belt fell to the ground, and a new sheath materialized on his belt - a deep blue sheath to meet the blade curve-for-curve, patterned with an emblem like six swords in a ring.

Fujin looked at Ven for a moment as he slowly slipped the blade into its sheath. "Use wisely," she said slowly.

Ven turned to her. "I will," he replied. "Half Enix, 165 south-southeast, half-day's walk, large building. Tell them Fujin and Raijin sent me."

"Affirmative," Fujin replied. She bit her lip tenatively. "Advice," she mused. "No gold."

Then she turned away and vanished in a flurry of wind, leavin Ven feeling more insulted than advised.

* * *

Draco: Alright, let's see how this burns. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah


	2. Dancing with Water

Draco: Alright, I seem to stand corrected. This story will be continuously updated on a sub-regular basis until I get the chance to continue my usual work. I can't tell you how long this thing will be, because my stories write themselves.

If I owned Kingdom Hearts, party members would be optional and Dream Weapons would make appearances as useable weapons beyond the Dive to Heart. As such, party members are usually mandatory, Dream Weapons in battle are exclusive to the first Kingdom Hearts game, and I own none of this dung.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Dancing with Water**

Ventus arrived at Half Enix as the sun was starting to vanish behind the horizon. When he made it home, he closed the door and locked it tight before turning around. His house was a mess. Packing was going to be a challenge, and for a moment Ven was thinking of just turning it down. Then he glanced at the sheath on his belt, the weapon that was both a sword and a wing.

Challenge accepted.

Raijin had said to bring a compass. Ven found one dangling from the arm of a chair and made sure it worked before putting it in his pocket. He would need food, so he gathered a day's rations and put them into a bag. Water would also be a neccessity, and as such he found three waterskins and filled them to the brim. He grabbed a few personal belongings and put them in his bag as well; it wouldn't do to leave possessions free for the looting.

He decided against waiting the night. Gods don't usually appear to give you missions you can do within the span of three days. Hell, if a god appears, you better get down on your knees and hope they don't smite you. Ven secured the windows around his home and did a bit of fussing with his bedroom window's lock before slipping through the frame and lowering the glass. He heard the satisfying click that told him what he needed to know and made his way out of town.

The moment he was out, he braced himself for his journey and began to walk south-southeast, not knowing what would come to him, but knowing that he would face it fully.

+x+x+x+

Meanwhile, at an area not far from his destination, a girl was perched at a designated watcher's point, watching through the night. At first, she had been pleased at the prospect of a field mission, even one as inactive as a lookout. But now she hated it. She hated this post. She hated staying up for nights on end. She was even starting to hate the landscape over which she was watching. Granted, the job was doing wonders for her night vision, but she was starting to wish the post had been given to someone else. She would rather continue endless training than sit there, perched at the top of a tree, night after night after night.

But she had accepted the mission - she had _volunteered_ for the mission. And she was bound to her orders. So she sat there, waiting for her target to appear.

Halfway between midnight and dawn, she saw him. At the edge of her night vision, a figure appeared, slowly getting closer. After a moment, she was able to make out his garments; he was dressed in a jacket that was black on his left, white on his right. His leggings were a shade of grey that seemed haous, and his feet bore not but a pair of sandals. His golden blond hair was swept to his right, like the wind had caught it and it had decided to stick.

It wasn't until he was almost passing below her that she got a good look. The boy seemed tired, if his slow steps and stumbling behavior were any identification. His eyes were drooped, and he yawned often. But it was at his waist, on his right, dangling from his belt, that really caught her attention - a cobalt blue shape with a distinct curve along its figure.

It was a sheath.

And it held a sword.

+x+x+x+

Ven loosed yet another yawn. He was regretting his decision to take off immediately, gods or no gods. He had already drained one of his waterskins and was halfway through a second. Half of his rations had been consumed, starting with those which would supply the most energy. But that didn't change the fact that his body was weak and tired, and he was struggling not to fall asleep. The clouds that were obscuring the full moon didn't help matters.

He neared a tree, and his foggy eyes started to make out the faintest of sillouhettes in the distance. Most of Betwixt had solitary trees strangely scattered along the land, and so Ven had good reason to take no particular notice of the massive plant. But as he began to wonder whether he should stop and rest, a voice called out to him.

"Who are you?"

Ven's eyes widened, but he nearly passed out from the sudden shock. He glanced around, his eyes squinting to look for a figure in the area, but there was no one around. "Who... who's there?" he called.

The tree shook as a figure leapt from the top of its branches. The figure soared gracefully through the air, hit the ground with a swift roll, and rose. It was at that moment that the clouds above parted, letting the moonlight light the area.

Air filled the space that opened in Ven's mouth as he gaped.

It was a girl. But it was a beautiful girl with hair of ocean cobalt, eyes of aquamarine, and a figure that would make Fujin kick him. She wore a sleeveless top of dark blue with two belts crossed over her torso, and a pair of _short_ black shorts. Her arms had sleeves of bright white, but they didn't seem to be connected to anything, and her hands bore fingerless gloves the colour of sand. Strips of blue cloth draped from her waist, held in place by a circle of white cloth. Her shoes were armoured, sabatons of silver and cobalt that arced to her feet, and segmented strips of armour coursed down her arms.

She glared towards Ven, causing him to look her in the eye. His eyelids drooped as he fought against sleep, and she seemed to notice. "How long have you been travelling?" she asked.

"Since sunset," Ven murmured.

The girl muttered something in a language that might have been Japanese. She turned towards Ven and reached for her belt, drawing something - a long shaft of cobalt with a diamond-shaped tip. Angular protrusions of silver emerged from just under where she closed her hand, circling her fingers but not connecting above.

Ven thought it was rather odd for a weapon before he saw the energy gathering at the tip.

A burst of fire emerged from the diamond tip and soared through the air towards Ven. He yelped and dove out of the way as it soared past him, gravity taking no hold on it. Indeed, the night air extinguished it before it had a chance to strike anything, but it very well would have second-degree enflamed his torso if he hadn't moved. He raised his gaze towards the girl, who turned to him and raised the weapon for another burst.

Ven closed his hand around the sword Fujin had given him.

A surge of energy coursed through his body, and as the second burst of fire emerged, he drew the blade and raised it to block the flames. They faltered against the arced edge, and Ven glanced at his weapon in shock.

Shock was not exclusive to him, however. The girl's voice emerged in something that might have been horror; "That! Where did you get that weapon?"

Ven raised his gaze to his confrontor and brought his arms back into his battle stance - blade before him, left arm crossed behind his right.

He shot forward with a speed to his movements, but the girl raised her weapon and parried the slash with something that seemed to be ease. Ven leapt out of the way as she tried to strike at him, then shot forward and slashed again. She leapt away from the slash as he brought his sword into a full arc and continued his momentum, clashing with the weapon in her hand. It wasn't power, but speed that gave his blade enough force to send it arcing through the air and connecting with the ground.

Ven stepped back as her opponent glared at her. He glanced at her weapon with a curiosity - what was it made of that allowed it to withstand a fast blow like that without snapping? Then again, he had just seen her launch fire through it; he shouldn't be too surprised.

He didn't have the chance to dwell on it before the girl rushed forward, pulling her weapon out of the ground. She lashed out again, this time with a shard of ice flying from her blade, but Ven parried the shot and lashed out, nearly striking her in the arm. She parried the blow again and tried to strike out physically, but Ven arced under it, slammed his empty hand to the ground, and launched a sweeping kick that sent the girl flying and embedded her weapon in the ground with enough force to cut her flight short.

It was a moment before the girl got to her feet and drew her weapon from the ground; then she rushed forward and slashed out, only to be met with Ven's, raised to block. The two pressed their blades against each other's and looked into each other's eyes. The girl had rage in her eyes, but Ven's were half-closed, and faded.

So one might excuse the girl's shock when he applied enough pressure to his weapon to send hers hurtling skyward. She stumbled back from the unexpected force and fell back, falling into a kneel. The fire and ice had clearly drained her stamina; had they clashed blades from the get-go, Ven had a feeling she would have overpowered him.

Slowly, he stepped forward and offered his hand.

It was at that moment that the weapon tore down, cutting down his wrist and embedding itself in the ground before the girl. Ven shouted in pain and stumbled back, his sword falling to the ground as he gripped the cut. Blood stained in hand, and as he raised his gaze he saw the girl move. In one swift action she grabbed her weapon, shot to her feet, and raised it towards him.

A sphere of light shot from her weapon and hit Ven's chest, and he gave a shout as the world faded from around him.

* * *

Draco: Word count claims that this one is shorter than the previous, but I should wonder if that was because of the lengthy author's comment. Anyways, this is what you got. Rad, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	3. Mistranslations

Draco: Hey ho! Bad news. This may end up becoming infrequent pretty soon due to my beginning the dA stuff. Sorry, but hey, I'll try to update this whenever I get bored.

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any related materials.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Mistranslations**

"Esuna."

Ven's eyes opened suddenly. He didn't move, but from what he could see, he seemed to be in some sort of building. The girl from before was kneeling over him, and as he watched, she turned and called out something in a language that sounded like Japanese. Then she turned back to face him. "How do you feel?"

"You..." Ven murmured. "Didn't you... try to kill me?"

The girl chuckled softly. "Not really," she replied. "Sorry for lashing out so powerfully, but I... I had been under a lot of stress. How do you feel?"

The swordsman shook his head. "Like I just got run over by a house."

"Good, then, considering that you took a direct hit from Pearl." The girl had a smile on her face. "Most people feel more like it was the whole village." She laughed, and Ven couldn't help but join in.

Ven glanced around without moving. "Where am I?" Ven asked.

"Departure Temple," the girl replied. "Medical chamber. What is your name?"

"Ventus."

The girl smiled, as though the name inspired something within her. "A spirited alias," she mused. "My name is Aqua."

"Aqua..." Ven slowly closed and then opened his eyes.

She seemed concerned. "Is something the matter?"

Ven shook his head. "No, it's just... I figured a girl like you would have such a beautiful name."

Aqua's eyes widened, and her face turned a fiery shade of crimson that contrasted brilliantly with the cobalt of her hair and the sapphire of her eyes. "Oh! Well... um..." She turned away slightly. "I don't deserve such compliment," she murmured modestly.

It was at that moment that a door opened, and Ven turned to see a figure dressed in a bright white haori enter the room. Two scars crossed his face - one over his eye, one down his jaw - but he seemed kind as he approached Ven.

"Ah," he mused, "our visitor is awake. Welcome."

As the man neared Ventus, Aqua got to her feet and bowed her head slightly. "Master Eraqus," she murmured.

The man, Eraqus, waved her down. "You may go, Aqua," he assured her. "Why don't you go check on Terra? I hear he could use a sparring partner."

Aqua bit her lip for a moment and glanced at Ven before turning back to Eraqus. "Actually, Master, if it's not too much trouble, could I stay here?"

Eraqus did not seem surprised. "Very well." He turned to Ven.

Ven spoke first. "How long have I been asleep?" he asked.

"A day and a half," Eraqus replied. "You took a direct hit from Pearl while experiencing a lack of sleep. You've recovered quickly, all things considered."

"I see." Ven reached for his belt, but found nothing. Panic hit like a whip, and he shot to an upright position. "My sword... where's my sword?"

Aqua set her hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Ventus," she assured him. "Your sword is safe."

Eraqus looked at her curiously, but turned to Ven. "Why have you come here?" he asked.

"I..." Ven paused. His thoughts wisked like an omlette, and for a moment he was about to spout his recipe for fried hawk when he remembered lightning and wind. "I come from the village of Half Enix," he replied. "I was sent by the kami known as Fujin and Raijin."

That did not get the reaction he was expecting. Eraqus leapt to his feet. Aqua stumbled backwards, struck an empty table, and nearly knocked it over.

"_Kuso_," she muttered. "He wasn't lying."

Eraqus turned away. "Impossible. It can't be..."

Ven looked between them. "What's so incredible?"

"Two weeks ago, a visitor came to the temple entrance," Aqua replied. "He looked like your typical village punk - black tuque, dark crop top, sleeveless jacket cape, dark baggy leggings, combat boots. He had a strange kind of sword across his back - the hilt and grip were designed to resemble a firearm. He introduced himself as Seifer. Said he was a kami."

"We didn't believe him," Eraqus stated. "I demanded he stop fooling around and leave. He drew his sword, aimed it at the sky, and pulled the trigger. The next thing I knew, he had a bird skewered on his blade."

Ven shook his head. "If they don't look like a god, and their weapon has strange qualities, they are either a god or gifted by one." he mused. "I learned that from experience."

Aqua sighed. "Say that sooner," she murmured. "Anyways, he said that two of his allies were looking for someone - someone special - that they were to send here. He reccomended we set up watchmen and keep a lookout, but he admitted full well that he was unsure how long they would take. He also advised that we be armed, because he wasn't sure whether the someone would be friendly or not. And he told us to wait for a particular target: a sword strapped on the waist as though to be drawn with the left hand." She shook her head. "He said all that while pulling the bird off his sword. When it cleared the tip, there was no blood on the blade."

"After that, I decided to heed his advice," Eraqus replied. "Aqua was designated as a nighttime lookout, which is how she met you."

"I'm sorry for lashing out at you," Aqua interjected. "I had been taking the night shift for the entire time, and when you said you'd only been travelling since sunset..."

Ven nodded. "I understand," he replied. Her mention of their battle brought to mind the wound he had recieved, and he glanced at his left wrist. The only mark that showed there had ever been a cut there was a faint white line across his wrist. "Do you have any idea why they might have sent me?" he asked.

Eraqus shook his head. "No," he admitted. "But I reccomend you stay here for a while. I'm afraid we haven't many residential chambers..." He trailed off for a moment before getting to his feet. "I'll speak with Terra. He shouldn't mind sharing a chamber."

"Um, Master?" At Aqua's words, Eraqus turned. "I don't mind sharing a chamber with him. It's the least I can do after I attacked him like that."

"Are you sure, Aqua?" Eraqus seemed surprised. "Surely you would rather keep your chamber your own after such a... strenuous post?"

"I'm sure, Master," Aqua replied.

Eraqus frowned, not out of anger, but confusion. "Very well," he said slowly. "Could you show Ventus? I'll let Terra know we have a new companion." He stepped out of the room.

Aqua sighed in relief and sat down at Ven's side.

Ven turned to her. "Alright, what's up?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Aqua asked, immediately on the defensive.

"You just insisted I share a room with you."

Aqua stared at him for two seconds before she slammed her palm into her forehead. "You actually hate me for the lash-out, don't you?"

Realization hit Ven, and he shook his head. "No, no no no, nothing like that," he assured her. "It's just that the only girl I've actually really known before I ran into you was one of the other villagers from Half Enix, and she liked her privacy. I thought all girls were like that."

"Ohhhh." Aqua understood. "Actually, that's got nothing to do with it." She glanced around. "Come with me. Eraqus said to show you to my chamber."

+x+x+x+

Departure Temple turned out to be a huge complex that had to have been there for a thousand years. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all crafted from a peculiar stone that Ven had a sneaking suspicion was some kind of gold ore. The doors of the temple were flawless ebony worksmanship, and the halls were lit sourcelessly.

Ven followed Aqua until she seemed to arrive at the right room. On the door, a silver nameplate had been marklessly hung, reading _Aqua_ in fluid calligraphy that was stunning cobalt. Aqua touched the door and muttered something, causing it to open; then she stepped inside and beckoned Ven forward.

The boy obliged, and the door closed behind him.

He hardly noticed; Ven was stunned by the interior. The entire room was decorated articulately; all over the room, words were carved into the walls - some in normal writing, some in Persian scripture, some in Japanese kanji, some even in runic letters. A large bookshelf of oak took up one whole wall, and though the shelves weren't packed, they held a great multitude of books all bound in velvet, with gold calligraphy across the spines. Resting in one corner was a fine oak desk with a large stack of paper, a stylo, and a small pile of velvet binding.

A bed lay along the same wall as the desk, and though it was unmade, it gave a level of homey-ness to the room. As Ven looked, small details like that were visible - a wastebin sat in the corner opposite the desk, a few loose articles of clothing lay on the floor, and some possessions were scattered across the bed and bookshelf.

Aqua came to an abrupt halt as she realized how she had left her room. "Sorry about the mess," she murmured.

"Mess?" Ven shook his head. "This is amazing. This is... incredible. I didn't think a room like this could be _real_, let alone possible." He wandered forward and set his hand on one of the runes on the wall. "What's with all the writing on the walls?"

"It's just... something I do." Aqua sounded kind of nervous, but Ven didn't blame her. She _live__d_ in this room, with all the velvet-bound books and oak furniture. A few clothes on the floor would be equivalent to a child forgetting to clean.

Ven sighed. "This place is incredible," he mused. "I'm going to wake up _every morning_ and think I've died and gone to heaven."

Aqua was silent for a moment. Ven turned to see she was busy picking up the clothes. She seemed to be hiding her face as she stepped towards a door next to her desk and opened it.

The newcomer reacted. "You do _not_ have a walk-in closet in _addition_ to all the oak and velvet."

This brought Aqua to a pause as she suddenly saw the room through Ven's eyes. "Actually, Ventus," she said after a moment's thought, "I have all the oak and velvet in addition to a walk-in closet."

Ven shook his head. "Aqua, you have blown my mind." He glanced around. "So... what is it you wanted me in here for?"

Aqua was jolted back to reality. "Bahamut Sin," she cursed. She carelessly tossed her clothes into the closet and closed the door before stepping back towards the bed. With a swift movement, she dropped to the floor and reached under the bed before drawing out a familiar shape - a sword with a distinct curve held within a sheath of deep cobalt, marked with six swords arranged in a star.

"That's my sword!" Ven exclaimed.

"Shh!" Aqua glanced around. "I need you to keep quiet, alright?" Ven nodded. "Good. Now, where did you get this sword?"

Ven carefully took the weapon from her. "When I met Raijin and Fujin, they told me to come here. Fujin gave me this sword." He gripped the handle in his backhand grip and drew it from the sheath, the platinum sheen and engraved feathers catching light. "I can see why. It fits my style well."

Aqua shook her head. "It has nothing to do with your style, Ventus. It-"

"Ven." When Aqua raised her head, he smiled. "Call me Ven."

That caught her off-guard. "Ven..." Aqua smiled softly for a moment. Then she sighed. "Look, Ven, your sword... I would advise you didn't use it while you were around here, alright? At least until we're sure."

"Sure of what?" Ven felt like he had stumbled across something very dangerous.

A knock on the door sounded, and Ven and Aqua both spun to face the door. "Hey, Aqua, you in there?"

In a flash, Ven sheathed his blade and slid both under the bed. Once Aqua was sure it was concealed, she snapped her fingers, causing the door to open.

A warrior stepped in - or at least he looked like one. His hair and eyes were earthen brown, and his skin was slightly tanned. His skintight high-collar shirt showed that he had muscle to spare, and he wore hakama that looked like they would leave his legs to burn on a hot day. His left arm bore armour - gauntlet and pauldron, deadly bronze.

He seemed surprised to see Ven, giving the backhand swordsman a once-over. "You the guy?" he asked.

Ven nodded, unsure whether to say anything.

Aqua did the introductions. "Terra, this is Ventus. He just woke up earlier. Ventus, this is Terra. He has the other residential chamber." Ven detected some kind of caution in her voice, and when he turned to her, he saw her face was fiery red.

"I see," Terra mused. "What's your style?"

"Backhand swordplay," Ven replied. "Quick blows, hit-and-run if my opponent is strong enough to take me out in one hit."

Terra smirked. "Then I'm just gonna have to learn to run faster," he mused. A chill of terror tore down Ven's back as he turned to Aqua. "Anyways, Aqua, I was going to head to the training grounds and was hoping you would join me to spar. Interested?"

"Um..." Aqua turned away, as though considering. "Not... not at the moment, thanks," she replied finally.

"Alright." Terra turned and took off, the door closing behind him.

Ven turned to Aqua with a grin on his face. Aqua didn't react at first; she was faced away, evidently trying to cool down her face. When she did turn, however, she saw his grin instantly. "What?"

"What." Ven chuckled. "You know what."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Aqua mused.

This brought a laugh from Ven. "You can't fool me," he stated. "Spill."

Aqua was playing fool. "I've got nothing to say." She turned and drew out his sword again from under her bed.

Ven shook his head and gently pulled it from her hands, drawing it from its sheath. "Anyways, what did you mean when you said 'until we're sure'?"

"This weapon, it's... arcane. Kami don't usually provide weapons, and I doubt you only got this because you'd lost your own. And its design..." She trailed off uncertainly.

"What about its design?" Ven inquired.

Aqua sighed and got to her feet. "Come with me."

+x+x+x+

"So... how long has this place been around?"

As Aqua led Ven through the temple complex, she welcomed the small talk. "I can't say for sure," she admitted. "This place is ancient enough for us to think we know what kami look like, anyways."

Ven chuckled. "Think," he noted. "So, what's this place made of?"

"Goldstone," Aqua replied. "It's hard to break, and it renews itself over time. The doors are blackfire ebony - any flame that meets the wood becomes darkness itself. That's why we try not to play with fire."

"I see." Ven glanced upward, looking for a source of light as they neared a corner. "How is this place lit?"

In response, Aqua stopped and reached out towards the roof corner. In that corner suddenly appeared a sphere of glass, within which was a blazing fire. It slowly descended towards Aqua, who held it out to Ven. "Phyre orbs," she replied. "They provide an undying source of light, and they're portable. Here, take it."

Carefully, Ven closed his hand around the orb. He almost dropped it - he had been expecting a burning heat, not a mild sensation halfway between warm and cool. "Strange..."

"Strange indeed," Aqua agreed. "But one gets used to it." She took the orb from him and held it out to the corner, causing it to float up to the edge. "Now come on."

After a few more minutes, they arrived at an ancient door. Unlike the blackfire ebony doors that covered the rooms, however, this one was a massive barrier of obsidian, imbued with a collection of onyxes. Aqua hesitated for a moment.

"I wonder," she murmured.

Slowly, she reached out and set her hand on the door. A flare of light emerged as she lifted her hand, and the onyxes on the door shone a bright amythest before the door sank into the earth. Aqua stepped inside, then stopped when she realized Ven wasn't following. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Come on."

Tenatively, Ven stepped forward, his feet crossing the threshold slowly. The door rose behind him, the amythests blackening again. He hardly noticed; the chamber he was in was a complete opposite to the rest of the temple complex. It was lined with obsidian, onyx patterned across the walls. Phyre orbs hung in the corners, lighting the room, but it was still very dark - and it had nothing to do with visibility.

The wall he was facing had an image carved into it, shining bright white. It showed a single figure - a male figure in a kneeling position. Surrounding him were six curved, feathered wings, and pointed straight down below him was a single sword, double-edged and sharp. The image was surrounded by a ring of scripture, Persian from the look of it, and Japanese characters littered the surface around that ring.

Ven stepped towards it. "What... what is this?"

"It is a legend that has been inscribed in this temple for ages," Aqua replied. "The wings and sword are meant to represent a powerful weapon."

"Hold on, those wings..." Ven drew his sword from his belt, comparing the curved blade to the wings on the image. "They match my sword."

Aqua nodded. "That was why I was worried. Master Eraqus showed me the day I arrived. Terra had been here first; he explained that it was dangerous, and we were forbidden from delving into it." She turned back to the carving and read aloud; "_Power, magic, speed, blend in synchronicity as the Six-Winged Blade that lay alight in the hand of the Seraph_."

Ven winced. Something seemed... off about the way she read it. "What does it mean?"

"The Six-Winged Blade is meant to be the ultimate weapon," Aqua explained. "It is stronger than earth, faster than wind, and more arcane than water. Its wielder, known as the Seraph, is an ultimate warrior who fears no foe; the one who will either save the world... or bring about its end."

"It's strange," Ven mused, stepping towards the engraving. "I mean, the way your walls were carved, I expect you'd know your languages. But the way you said it..." He shook his head. "I don't know, it just seemed... off."

"Off?" Aqua asked.

Ven nodded. "Yeah, like... it wasn't quite right."

This caused Aqua to turn to the writing. "I... I actually didn't translate it myself," she admitted. "Mater Eraqus translated it for me; when he came in, he read it to me himself."

She watched as Ven set his hand against the carving, arcing it as though left-to-right - not right-to-left as Persian is read. He mused aloud; "It's strange... I can feel the words coming to me." He closed his eyes, tracing the Persian and muttering under his breath. "Synchronicity... speed... magic... power... Seraph... light... Six Wingblades..."

Aqua's eyes widened as she approached him, and she set her hand on his shoulder. "What was that part?" she demanded.

"Six Wingblades..." Ven murmured, leaving his hand on the carving. "Six..." his eyes snapped open. "Wait... Six... Wing... Blade..."

"No," Aqua stated. "That's not right." She turned to the Persian. "Six-Winged Blade... Six Wingblades... Six... Wing... Blade..." Her eyes widened in shock. "Bahamut Sin."

At that moment, a flash of white from behind them caused them to turn. The onyxes shone amythest before the door slid into the ground, and the figure of Eraqus stood there.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "Aqua, I never told you to bring Ventus in here. I was going to show him the engraving once he had-"

"It's translated wrong."

Ven's interruption stopped Eraqus cold. "What-?" He seemed confused. "Ventus, what are you talking about?"

Aqua stepped forward. "You translated the Persian incorrectly," she explained. "The direct translation is 'Six Wing Blade'." She said it slowly and turned to the carving. "Indeed, it would be understandable to interpret that as 'Six-Winged Blade', but it's not as accurate, not as correct."

Eraqus approached them. "Then so help me," he demanded, "what is the correct translation?"

"It's not Six-Winged Blade," Ven stated. "It's _Six Wingblades_."

"Wingblade?" Eraqus turned to him. "What, are you mad?"

Ventus turned to Aqua, who nodded. Then Ven reached to his belt and closed his hand around the handle of the sword granted to him by Fujin.

He drew the Wingblade.

* * *

Draco: Boom. I had fun with that. But I'm not gonna waste your time. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	4. Sparring and Small Talk

Draco: I'm here at _lot_ sooner than I thought I would be. I blame glitches. Glitches are usually good to blame things on. That's why Sora's Heartless was so damn tough. Personally, I'm not a fan of TerAqua, even if it is more or less a derivative of RiKai (which I normally only use for triangle purposes), but it makes for a good plot sometimes.

I own not one material with relations to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Sparring and Small Talk**

"I'm sorry, Ven. I didn't think he'd react that harshly."

Ventus and Aqua were back in Aqua's chamber. Ven was empty-handed - Eraqus had more or less confiscated his Wingblade as soon as it had been drawn. They hadn't been commanded to the chamber, but they needed somewhere to talk and it just made the best choice - so they sat there on Aqua's bed and spoke.

Ven set his hand on Aqua's. "It's alright," he assured her. "I... if Eraqus wants to take a closer look at it, I can't blame him. It's not that big a deal."

Aqua smiled softly for a few moments. She coughed lightly and glanced around. "We... I should probably make this place more suitable for two people." She got to her feet.

"Hold on." As Aqua turned, Ven got to his feet. "Didn't Terra invite you to spar?"

"Oh!" Aqua panicked. "Um... I..." She bit her lip in thought. "Do you mind...?"

Ven shook his head. "Go ahead."

"Thank you." She took off quickly, leaving Ven to chuckle, shaking his head. He turned to the walls, the multilingual carvings, and then to the bookshelves of velvet volumes. Then he lay back and closed his eyes.

+x+x+x+

The training grounds were an area just outside Departure Temple. It consisted of a series of practice mechanisms - large goldstone weights of various designs for one to test their weapons on, training bags for hand-to-hand routines, a collection of spinning poles littered with spikes, and the sparring arena.

Aqua arrived to find Terra using one of the weight designs - a large structure with four goldstones arranged so that the structure would begin to spin when one of the weights was struck. He was quite adept at striking against one weight, then lashing out with a blow so powerful that it sent the structure spinning in the opposite direction. His weapon of choice was a long, wide, double-edged flamberge - one that she had difficulty lifting with both hands, yet he held it with one.

Terra saw her when he performed a powerful whirling strike that almost dislocated one of the weights. "Oh, Aqua!" He stepped towards her and away from the weight spinner as Aqua came up next to him. "Decided to spar after all?"

"Yeah," Aqua agreed. "So, you game?"

"Of course." Terra made his way to the sparring arena and took his usual stance - his armoured arm before him, flamberge held back to strike. Aqua approached from the other side and drew her weapon - the diamond-tipped blade that she had used against Ven.

Without warning, Terra leapt forward. Aqua raised her blade and hooked his flamberge on the diamond end, then twirled her blade so that it was her blade, not his, that slid, sending him stumbling forward. She arced around him and danced backwards before jumping forward and knocking the weapon out of his hands.

At least, that's what she thought would happen. Her typical disarm was a hook on the blade, then applying downward force. But when she attempted to apply said force on Terra's waved blade, her weapon grated along the rippled edge, sending vibrations down her weapon's shaft and into her hand. Terra unhooked his weapon as Aqua grasped her hand, then raised the sword to Aqua's neck.

Aqua dropped her weapon and raised her hands.

Terra chuckled and stepped away, sheathing his flamberge on his back. "I thought you'd know by now not to try and pull that."

"I've been in a tree on lookout for two weeks," Aqua muttered. "Thinking about how to fight a friend was not exactly at the top of my list."

"True," Terra admitted. "So, were you gonna let that Ventus kid around here or no? I'd like to take a shot against a speed fighter."

Aqua thought. "Maybe," she mused. She picked up her weapon. "I've got to go. Eraqus is probably going to want to see me soon."

Terra seemed confused. "Why would he need you?" he asked, wary.

"I... may have been caught poking around the obsidian chamber," she replied. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth - she wasn't sure how Terra would react if he knew that she _and Ventus_ had been in the chamber. Together. Alone.

"Ah," Terra mused. "Well, see you around."

Aqua nodded and took off.

+x+x+x+

When she arrived at her chamber, the first thing she saw was Ventus, asleep on the bed. Aqua almost panicked, but she stopped herself and smiled when she saw him asleep with a content expression on his face. She didn't blame him - even if he had been out for a day and a half, unconsciousness just _isn't_ sleep - so if Ven still needed to sleep, let him.

She looked at him carefully. It was hard to describe it, but his face seemed... softer, more at peace, when Ven was asleep.

The girl sighed. She knew full well what Ven had been talking about earlier.

It was as though thinking about him too long had alerted him to her presence. Ven started to shift, and Aqua watched as his eyes flittered open. He lay there silently for a moment, his gaze focusing, before smiling. He started to rise - then he realized what he was rising from.

"Woah!"

Ven shot up like a rocket in shock, stumbling off the bed quickly. "I'm sorry, I don't know what... I wasn't... I'm sorry, I..."

Aqua set her hand on his shoulder. "Ven, it's alright," she assured him. "You don't have to worry."

This caused Ven to calm down. "Sorry," he said calmly. "I just kinda... passed out."

"I don't blame you," Aqua replied. "Being knocked out just doesn't give you the same kind of rest as being asleep." She approached the bed and sat down, but Ven didn't follow suit; he approached the desk, looking towards Aqua; when she didn't stop him, he picked up the chair and set it down across from her, looking kind of nervous.

The two were silent for a long moment. Ven was the one who broke the silence. "I need to ask you something," he said quietly.

Aqua raised her gaze. "Go ahead."

"It's... kind of personal." Ven seemed nervous.

This made Aqua hesitate. "Ask," she replied. "Then I'll determine whether I'll answer."

Ven thought for a moment. "You... are you and Terra... together?"

"I..." The hesitation was longer this time. Finally, she sighed. "I'm not really sure how to answer that," she replied. She thought for a moment. "Terra and I have been training together for a while... and any two people will grow closer when they're around each other a lot. I can't really say that me and Terra have done much, but... I can't be sure. Terra might look tough, and don't get me wrong, he could kick my ass in a heartbeat, but he can be kind of... hesitant sometimes."

"And you?" Ven pressed.

"I couldn't say for me," Aqua replied. "There's an old saying I heard once... 'No youth knows another better than he knows himself, but no youth knows himself like another knows him.' Me and Terra... we're kind of in that situation. There's things that we don't know about ourselves, and the other knows those things."

Ven nodded. "I see."

Aqua raised her gaze. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Ask away."

"Are you..." She paused. "Did you..." Another pause. "Have you..."

The backhander raised his gaze. "Yes, what is it?"

Aqua's face started to heat up. "Have you ever... been in a relationship?"

Ven looked at her for a moment. Then he shook his head. "No... no, I can't say I have." He stopped himself. "There was actually one girl I _kinda_ had feelings towards, but... it was never anything serious."

"The girl you mentioned before?" Aqua asked.

"Yeah," Ven replied. "Her name was Alice. She was kind of imaginative, but I never really had the chance to get close to her. She moved away before I got the chance. That was a couple years ago."

"I see." The two lasped into silence for a moment.

Ven raised his gaze. "So, what's your battle style like?" he asked.

Aqua half-smiled at the more casual chat, but battle and the talk it enveloped was a touchy subject for her. "I try to vary between fast and strong," she said carefully. "Sometimes I go in fast with a flurry of blows, others I slow down and strike with as much power I can. I'm best on the defensive - healing and guarding."

"Not bad," Ven replied. "You always gotta find a style that suits you. It's nice that yours is variable like that."

"What about you?" Aqua asked. "How do you compensate for the lack of range with your backhand grip?"

A flash of anger crossed Ven's face; it subsided, but it didn't completely leave. "Range... is not a problem," he muttered.

They were going back towards dangerous grounds. Aqua changed the subject. "What do you usually do in your spare time?" she asked.

The anger faded. "I've tried a lot of things to kill time," Ven replied. "Books, board games, card games, sports - you know, the works. I can handle them all pretty well. You?"

"I'm not really a sport girl," Aqua admitted, "but other than that I'm pretty much the same. Terra says I'm a really good strategist, but he's good at just going as far as he can as strong as he can.

It was at that moment that the door opened. Ven and Aqua turned to see Eraqus standing there. "You two," he stated, "come with me. I need to talk with you."

* * *

Draco: I'm alternating between long and short with this thing. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	5. Wings Meant to Fly

Draco: Wow. Not only am I updating much faster due to the chance to work on my dA stuff being eliminated, but I am actually updating faster than the guys I like to read. Figure that one out.

Kingdom Hearts and all related materials belong to someone who is not me.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Wings Meant to Fly**

Meanwhile, in the exact center of Betwixt - give or take fifty feet - another, far less benevolent figure was approaching a throne of necrous black gold. He was clad in a bodysuit of muscle tissue - jet-black, but fading to bloodred over the palms, with a bloodred pattern over his chest and leather boots with thick steel soles - and over his face rested a mask of glass darker than night, held by two guards of silver steel.

He came to a stop before the throne and knelt.

"The Flood have achieved result, Master." His voice was as dark as his garments.

Shadows were cast over the figure on the throne. Only his eyes could be seen - golden eyes that shone with darkness. He knelt forward curiously.

"What is this result?"

"In an area close to the village of Half Enix, a collection of Flood were fought by a simple steel weapon that held no effect," the dark one replied. "When its user ran off, the Flood followed and were eliminated. Attempts to send backup proved futile. I believe we have found our target."

"Do you have registration of the combatant's essence?"

The masked one nodded. "Yes, Master."

The Master on the throne was silent for a long while.

"Send a force to the location of the combatant. Make it varied. Make it many."

The dark one got to his feet. "Efcharístos." _With pleasure._

+x+x+x+

Eraqus led Ventus and Aqua through the temple complex until they arrived at a door with a plate that was marked _Master_ in bold, straight print. Curious, Ven watched as he opened the blackfire ebony and led the duo inside.

The room clearly wasn't residential - it was more like an office. A large desk of blackfire ebony sat in the center - a large chair sat behind it, two small chairs sat before it. Ceremonial torches lay unlit in the corners, and a filing cabinet sat in one corner. On the desk was a parchment and Ven's Wingblade. Eraqus stepped around the desk and took the chair there as Aqua and Ven sat down before him.

He picked up the parchment. "I spent a while in the obsidian room, trying to make sense of the writings," he explained. "I recorded the wall carvings here. Aqua, I'd like you to translate for me."

"Of course," Aqua replied. She took the parchment from him and looked at it carefully. Ven saw it was covered in Japanese, and Aqua began to read aloud.

"_The Wings of the Seraph grow individually, with each additional wing changing the flow of battle. The first wing is granted to one side by the wind, in which the Seraph holds high speed. The speed increases as the wing grows until it soars across the ground._"

Ven glanced at the Wingblade on Eraqus' desk. Fujin had given him one sword, and it was by no means a two-handed weapon.

"_When the second wing grows, strength makes its mark. Two sides hold wings, granted by dawn and dusk, in which the Seraph loses little in speed, and claims great in power. The power increases as the wings balance out until no foe lies before them with power alone._"

Power was never Ven's forte. He always chose speed over power. Dawn and dusk did not sound very good, either.

"_When the third wing grows, range becomes effect. No wing holds still, granted by flame, thunder, and frost, in which the Seraph must rely on stamina and energy. The energy increases as the wings flare wild until flight from battle becomes all but futile._"

Running from battle never worked against Ven. On the other hand, any more energy was going to send him running across the walls.

"_When the fourth wing grows, dexterity must enhance. Two wings on each side, air, fire, water, earth, in which the Seraph must maneuver with great accuracy and versatility. The versatility increases as the wings adapt until no guard can defend against the Seraph._"

Ven was never good at getting through guards. He was good at getting around guards. He was not good at getting through them.

"_When the fifth wing grows, black force emerges. All wings are one in motion, shade in a sea of light, in which the Seraph must use his own darkness against his foe's shadow. The shadow increases as the wings whirl about until light and shadow merge to forge or perish darkness._"

Darkness. Bad. Wrong. Evil. The words were synonymous in Ven's mind. Merging light and shadow was a terrible idea.

"_The Six Wings of the Seraph will determine whether the world will rise or fall._"

Aqua set the parchment down as that grim truth settled down over them. Finally, Master Eraqus picked up the sheathed Wingblade on his desk.

"Ventus... I believe the kami you met - the ones you called Fujin and Raijin - I believe they sent you here so that you could become stronger - maybe even so that you could become the Seraph on... contained grounds. I'd like you to stay here and join Terra and Aqua in training."

Ven didn't answer.

He didn't get the chance as a crash sounded outside. Everyone leapt to their feet. "What was that?" Eraqus gasped.

Aqua raced out the door, Ven following. She led him through the temple until they arrived at a pair of grand doors. With a snap of her fingers, the doors opened, and she and Ven raced outside.

Ven shouted.

Part of it was where they were. He had never seen the temple from the outside yet, so one might excuse his shock. The temple was a huge, massive complex that was suspended some distance off the ground. Four storms of goldstone flowed out from the main structure, two in each direction, within which Ven suspected were Aqua and Terra's rooms, Eraqus' room, and Eraqus' office. A long collection of goldstone steps raced down from the entryway, towards a forecourt with a circular pattern not unlike that of a compass.

But the biggest reason for Ven's shock was the fact that before the temple was a collection of dark foes. An army's worth of monsters with hues not unlike those of the ones Ven had fought - and Rai had defeated - were swarmed towards the temple. Terra was standing there, a flamberge in his hands, striking out against the foes - and granted, his blade eliminated his opponents, make no mistake - but one person wouldn't be enough to deal with that many monsters.

Eraqus stepped out and gasped. "What the..."

Ven turned to him. He had the sheathed Wingblade in his hand. Without warning, Ven snapped "Give me that" and snatched the weapon out of Eraqus' hand. He drew the Wingblade from its sheath and watched as the light gleamed off of it.

Then he turned to the army and hurled his weapon forward.

The sword spiralled through the air, plowing through a storm of airborne opponents with wings like axes. It arced around, eliminating many foes before racing back towards Ven - and the speed fighter leapt into the air and snatched the Wingblade out of the air before flipping in midair, rolling as he connected with the forecourt, and rushing forward. Terra was surprised to see the newcomer boy speed past him, leap over a tackle from a particularily weighty opponent, and strike out at the nearest monster.

Aqua bit her teeth and drew her weapon before dashing into the opponents to join them. Ven hardly noticed; he kept his gaze focused on his weapon, his opponents, and where his body was going to end up. The wingblade flowed with his body, his backhand style making it part of him, and he split his opponents with immense speed. Occasionally he crossed blades with Terra or Aqua, only to pull away and leapt at the nearest opponent.

By the time they were finished, all three of them were completely spent. Terra was panting so heavily that he should have been leaving indents in the ground. Ven had sweat falling in front of his eyes, and Aqua was nearly unconscious on her feet.

Eraqus slowly made his way down the steps, causing the three warriors to turn as he arrived at the forecourt. "That... was incredible," he mused. "You three... that was perfect trinity. How did you...?"

"I don't know," Ven admitted. "I just fought until my foes were gone." Terra and Aqua nodded in agreement.

The Master glanced at the Wingblade in Ven's hand. "That settles it," he stated. "Ventus, you will be staying with us and joining us in training. Not only will it strengthen you safely, it will also provide us with additional force if and when we are attacked by such foes again."

Ven nodded, too tired to argue and seeing the logic that Eraqus had already shown him. Terra glanced at the boy's weapon and yelped.

"Woah!" he gasped. "You..."

"Have a Wingblade," Ven and Aqua panted at the same time. "We know."

+x+x+x+

Aqua and Ven retired to Aqua's chamber. The two were silent for a long moment, neither of them willing to speak. Ven sheathed his Wingblade after a few moments and slid it back under the bed. Aqua finished the cleaning she had started earlier.

Finally, Aqua broke the silence. "It's getting late," she mused. "I should probably get this place ready for two."

Ven nodded. "Yeah. Probably a good idea."

Aqua got to her feet and made her way out. Ven warily approached the bookshelf and glanced at the empty surface. It was littered with a few different possessions - one of which was a rather fine, articulate necklace. Curious enough to slay a family of cats, Ven picked it up carefully and looked over it.

It was a simple string of leather that looped over a knot as a fasten. It connected with a few silver links to a flowing, artistic charm of bright blue. It looked like Persian scripture, and Ven carefully glanced at it.

"That was a gift."

Ven spun in shock to see Aqua at the door, with what looked like a bedroll in hand. Hastily, he set down the necklace, but Aqua shook her head. "It's alright. I don't blame you." She stepped towards him and carefully picked up the charm.

The speed fighter wanted to respect her privacy, but he couldn't help but ask; "Who was it from?"

Aqua paused. "Terra," she replied after a while. "He gave me the charm a while after I arrived."

"How long have you been here?" Ven asked as she set down the charm.

"A year or so," Aqua replied. "Terra was here before I was."

Ven nodded. "I see." He made as though to take the bedroll from Aqua.

Aqua stopped him. "Actually, Ventus..." She paused. "Would you like to take the bed?"

"Huh?" Even if he had cooled down from the battle, Ven's mind was still tired enough that it took a moment before he realized what Aqua was saying. "Oh! Um..." Ven shook his head. "I'll be fine. You can take it."

"No, I insist," Aqua pressed. "You're new here, you should get a comfortable rest."

Ven wanted to argue, but Aqua's determined face stopped him. He sighed. "Alright." He made his way towards the bed and watched as Aqua lay out the bedroll, then made her way into the closet, closing the door behind her. Ventus lay back and let his gaze wander the bookshelves, but before he knew what was happening, his eyelids began to droop. He just had time to catch a glimpse of Aqua, who had changed into a nightgown, before his body succumbed to sleep.

He was awakened by a flare of light.

* * *

Draco: I'm tired. I'm gonna shut up. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	6. Aqua Arcana

Draco: Before anyone asks suspicious and/or uneducated questions; Ventus was half-asleep when he ran into Aqua and he took a direct hit from high power at point-blank range. His memories of the fight were blurred. He was also very distracted during the swarm battle. If that doesn't clear things up, then you need to smarten up.

I own Xemnas' element in relation to Kingdom Hearts - that is to say, nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Aqua Arcana**

A surge of energy struck the wall above Ventus.

The Wingblade wielder shot upright to see Aqua standing in the middle of the room. Her right hand was pressed against the handle and guard of her diamond-tipped sword, and her skin was shining - literally _glowing_, power flowing across her arms. Her left hand held a sphere of white energy, and the tip of her weapon had silver light rippling across the gap. Her eyes were closed tight, twitching like she was tormented by a dream. Her lips parted as a pained scream ripped open the air.

She raised the hand that held the sphere, and Ven pushed himself off the bed as a flare of light surged from Aqua's palm, striking the wall. The speed fighter hit the floor and grabbed his Wingblade, unsheathing the arced sword as Aqua raised her silver-lit weapon. A thrust missed Ventus by inches, but Ven was not her target; the diamond tip struck the wall, and faster than Ven could blink, it raced across the surface, carving Persian scripture into the goldstone.

Ven dove out of the way as Aqua finished the carving and lashed out violently. The energy that lay in her hand was indescribable; it shone with more force than anything Ven had ever seen, and the glow of Aqua's body was immaculate, almost... arcane. Another scream tore past Aqua's lips, and she lashed out violently, sending a shard of what looked like ice flying towards the wall over the bed. It hit the goldstone and sent frost spreading across the surface as Aqua raised her hands towards her helm, tormented.

"Aqua!"

The speed fighter's call caused the wild-driven girl to spin towards him. She lashed out, sending a bolt of lightning racing towards Ven. He raised his Wingblade, the platinum surface reflecting it into the frost across from him. He stepped forward and dropped his weapon. Aqua, her eyes closed, seemed to sense him coming - as he reached forward to rouse her from whatever nightmare or possession had overcome her, the sphere of white energy in her left hand connected with Ven's right arm.

Ven gave a shout of pain as the shining power seared into him. The sensation was unmatched; it didn't tear his skin, didn't poison his blood, didn't break his bones, but it seemed to rip into his essence, driving into his soul and trying to steer him into insanity. But he fought the energy; he focused his mind and _willed_ the white force away, and the sensation pulled out of his body. Aqua's left hand jerked back as though stung; and before she had the chance to do anything else, Ven lashed his right hand forward and closed it around the other side of the white sphere.

An immaculate flare of light coursed from the sphere, and Aqua gave a tortured scream that shattered the air. Ven managed to resist the force of energy, and he reached forward and pressed his left hand against the diamond-tipped sword in Aqua's right. A surge of what could only be described as _arcana_ spread across the room, destroying the traces of thunder and frost, illuminating the Wingblade on the floor like a thousand undying stars.

Slowly, the power faded. The sphere of light vanished, the diamond tipped sword fell to the ground, and Ven's fingers interlocked with Aqua's. She started to fall as though out of stamina, and Ven took a single step forward so that his body would support hers. Her head collapsed against his shoulder, her breath shaky and faded on his neck, her heart beating wildly against his chest.

Ven tried not to move, well aware that his heart was beating quite quickly for itself. A few moments passed before the girl collapsed against him started to return to normal. The energy that was coursing across Aqua's skin gradually faded; her heartbeat decreased in pace; and her breathing slowly but surely became calm, steady breaths.

Aqua opened her eyes. "V-Ven?"

"It's alright," Ven assured her calmly. "You're alright. Trust me."

"What... What happened?"

Ven glanced towards the wall Aqua had carved into - the Persian scripture was glowing with the same force that had been in Aqua's left hand. "I don't know," he answered honestly.

Slowly, Aqua pulled away from Ventus, unlocking her fingers from his. She followed his gaze to the shining carving and gasped in shock. "It happened again," she murmured. "Why? Why tonight?"

"What?" Ven asked. "What's wrong?"

Aqua gazed at her hands, seeming to not hear Ven. "Why? Why couldn't it have occured sooner? Why did this have to happen _tonight_?"

Ven reached forward and grasped Aqua's hand. "Aqua... what's wrong?"

The girl raised her gaze to Ven. "I... I'd best show you... properly."

+x+x+x+

After managing to sneak out of the temple without waking Terra or Eraqus, Aqua, with her diamond-tipped sword in hand, and Ven, with his Wingblade on his belt, made their way to the training grounds. Aqua approached the sparring arena - a raised circular arena ringed by painful-looking leather ropes that Ven wasn't eager to get knocked into. Aqua made her way to the center of the combat area and turned to Ven, who lingered at the edge of the ring.

"Are you ready?" she asked tenatively.

"Ready for what?" Ven asked slowly.

Aqua bit her lip. "Just... don't... don't freak out."

She closed her eyes and raised her weapon above her. Ven saw silver light ripple across the gap at the tip of her sword - light that quickly became a volt-gold flare.

"_Kaminari!_"

Lightning razed down around Aqua, bolts of raw electricity that connected with the arena and loosed miniature discharges that scarred the platform. Ven yelped, pulling away from the edge as Aqua twirled her weapon in hand, spun to one of the training weights, and levelled her sword at it as the light, which had become silver again, transitioned to fiery crimson.

"_Hoka ma!_"

A bolt of fire ripped from the tip of her sword, arced through the air, and hit her target, turning the goldstone weight a red-hot ruby. Aqua lashed out with a trio of blows, each one loosing another bolt of fire, before she twirled the blade again, looking for another target. She caught sight of a set of training bags and aimed at it with the weapon across her body.

"_Kuraio!_"

What could only be described as a miniature blizzard tore from the tip of her sword, whirling across the distance between her and the first sandbag and freezing it on contact. She lashed out with another three blows, launching minatuare blizzards with each strike, before she turned to the collection of spiked poles and thrust her left hand out.

"_Hikari!_"

A sphere of white light ripped from her hand and soared towards the spinning poles. It grazed one of them, prompting all of them to start spinning, but the sphere of light arced around each one before making its way back towards Aqua. She spun in place, prompting the light to swirl around her before arcing into the sky, where it faded into sparks of light.

Aqua turned to Ven, who's mouth was gaping open. One hand was closed around the ropes of the training ring, and his body was arced backwards in shock. "You... You just... Did you just... You didn't just..."

The cobalt-clad girl shook her head, her eyes tearing up. "Now you see," she murmured. "What kind of power, what kind of energy I hold in, every second of every day. And every time that energy becomes too much..." She shook her head, grasping her helm with her left hand. "I go mad, insane. Ancient words pour from my mind, and I carve them into my walls so I don't forget."

Ven was in shock. "You mean... you're..."

"A witch," Aqua finished. "A mage. A spellcaster. Elemental in every way." She stepped towards him. "The words on my wall - runes, scripture, kanji - they're all incantations, ancient spells that I can't control." She shook her head, setting her hand on the rope to balance herself. "It's terrible. I'm... I'm a ruin."

She was caught by surprise when Ven set his hand over hers. She raised her gaze to meet his. "You're not a ruin," he replied. "You're not a witch. You're arcane. You're... incredible."

Aqua's eyes widened. "You don't... you're not..."

"Don't get me wrong," Ven replied, "I'm shocked as hell. Until a minute ago, magic was still a mystery to me. But you opened my eyes, Aqua. And... you opened my heart." A soft smile grew on his face. "You deserve better than to be called a witch. You're a spellweaver. You're... beautiful."

Heat coursed across Aqua's face, and she was scared her magic was acting up before she realized she was blushing.

Ven turned towards the temple. "We should probably head back in," he mused. "Before the others wake up."

"Y-Yeah," Aqua agreed, stepping out of the ring. The two of them made their way out of the training grounds.

"So, all those books on your shelf," Ven mused. "Are those...?"

Aqua nodded. "Spellbooks," she replied. "Since the goldstone renews itself over time, I have to right down the carvings whenever I get the chance. Every time I have enough, I bind them and at them to the shelf."

"What about Terra and Eraqus?" Ven asked. "Do they know?"

"Eraqus knows," Aqua confirmed. "Terra... I can't be a hundred percent on that. I don't _think_ he knows, but it's always possible he's walked in on me during one of my... sessions. And during that mass fight earlier... I think he might have seen a few casts."

Ven nodded. "Wouldn't be surprised," he mused. "I take it you haven't asked him?"

"And how would I go about that?" Aqua countered. She took on a tone of false curiosity. "_Oh, hey, Terra, I just wanted to ask you, did you know I'm a witch that spews flame and thunder out of her blade and shoots orbs of light out of her hands? No? Oh, well, now you do. So sorry to waste your time. Forget I said anything._"

Both of them gazed at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing. Ven shook his head. "Part of me wants to call you crazy," he mused.

Aqua raised an eyebrow. "And the other part?" she asked.

"If I told you what the other part wants, then you'd start spewing flame and thunder our of your blade and shooting orbs of light out of your hands," Ven replied.

"I see," Aqua mused. "Why is that?"

Ven turned to her and looked for a long moment. Finally, he replied, "You said you and Terra were growing closer."

Aqua froze in place. "You... you mean..."

"Sorry," Ven said hastily, raising his hands apologetically. "Too soon?" When Aqua didn't respond, he stepped forward. "Aqua?"

"It... it's alright," Aqua assured him. "Let's... let's get back to the temple."

+x+x+x+

"The mass attack we have launched resulted in failure, Master."

The enthroned figure closed one hand around the other, deep in thought. He had suspected as much from the condition the messenger was in - the muscle tissue worn and torn, his motions weak and panting.

"How many?"

The dark one panted for a moment. "Two thousand and fifty," he replied. "However, more than one combatant was detected - he is not alone."

"Of course. He must have arrived at the temple."

The enthroned figure thought for a moment.

"Go to his location personally. I want you to find the twin blades yourself - before he grows his second wing."

A bow from the dark one. His tone was enough to tell that he was grinning from ear to ear. "Efcharístos."

* * *

Draco: You all have fun now. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	7. First Place Shadow

Draco: So sorry for the delay. I know I hate it when a fanfic I'm reading doesn't update for a long time and I apologize to those like me reading this because that essentially makes me a big-ass hypocrite.

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any related materials.

* * *

**Chapter 7: First Place Shadow**

Aqua, who was used to Departure Temple, woke up as most did - at the same time the fall sun would rise, even enclosed as her chamber was. The phyre orbs around the temple grew brighter and dimmer at the same time the sunlight would; it was part of their magic. Ventus hadn't noticed them at first, but that's how it always was - the phyre orbs would never be seen until they were shown, in which case they were everywhere.

The thought of Ven caused Aqua to recall their little escapade the previous night. She had actually done it - she had shown someone else the curse of arcana that she had held. A soft smile grew on Aqua's lips at the thought of that burden being lifted from her chest. She rolled over on her bed...

...and crashed into Ventus.

The spellcaster gave a yelp and scrambled backwards. Ven gave a shout and shot to an upright position in time to see Aqua fall off the bed and collapse on the ground, pulling a complete roll in her nightgown before falling onto her back with her hands thrown to her sides at 115-degree angles.

Ven scrambled towards the edge of the bed, yelped, and quickly turned away at the sight of Aqua, whose nightgown had almost come unfastened in the fall. Now Aqua remembered the rest of last night: when they had arrived back at the temple, they had been too tired to care about who slept where. She realized they must have both fallen asleep on her bed without even thinking about what that might entail in the morning.

The door - which Aqua had personally enchanted to not only open by the snap of her fingers but also to open on its own for a visitor who was in a hurry - chose that moment to fly open in a blur of blackfire ebony. Ven and Aqua both turned to see Terra standing there, out of breath, clearly rushed. "Aqua Ventus Master wants you two to meet him in the forecourt he said he wanted to-"

His flurry of unpausing words came to an abrupt halt as he gazed upon the scene that lay there. Ven was on all fours on the bed, his fingers curled around the edge of the mattress, his light-and-dark shirt having opened ever-so-slightly to reveal his torso. Aqua was sprawled on the floor, her nightgown loose, her hair an undone mess, her face red like a fire.

Terra slowly stepped out of the room, crimson starting to flow under his nose. "Forecourt," he repeated.

Then he tore down the hall like Bahamut was on his heels.

Aqua scrambled to her feet, drawing her gown around her. "Wait, Terra!"

She turned to Ven, who was faced towards the wall, his face the colour of fire in complete and utter embarassment not unlike that which she felt herself.

+x+x+x+

A few minutes later, Terra, Ven, and Aqua were standing at the forecourt. Aqua had changed into her usual attire, fixed her hair, and was now holding her diamond-tipped sword in hand; Ven had the Wingblade strapped around his waist and had managed to cool down; and Terra, with his flamberge on his back, seemed to have recovered from the injury to his nose. Master Eraqus was standing before them; in his hand was a thin rapier of haous black steel.

What Eraqus wanted to perform was what Terra and Aqua had explained as a reception ceremony. Ventus was to step forward and kneel before Eraqus, who would then say a few words. Then what they had only explained as a 'surprise' was to occur before Eraqus would accept him as a student.

"You'll be fine," Aqua had assured him. "Trust me."

Now that it was beginning, Ven could feel a cold sweat on his palms. Eraqus looked between the three of them before speaking.

"Today we will accept another as a student of Departure Temple," he called. "Ventus, please step forward."

Ven took two steps and knelt before Eraqus.

"The one you see before you is different in many ways," Eraqus stated. "He prefers speed over power. He wields his sword in a backhand grip. His weapon was granted to him by kami. But that weapon was what drove us to accept him here. Ventus, rise and draw your weapon."

Was that it? Ven got to his feet and pulled the Wingblade from its sheath. It arced across his forearm swiftly, as though a wing had sprouted from his wrist - which, he realized, was the whole idea of the Six Wingblades.

It was then that Eraqus swept his rapier before him into a battle stance. "Now prepare yourself for battle!"

There was one tenth of a second in which Ventus was shocked. There were another two tenths of a second in which he realized that Terra and Aqua had set him up. The remaining seven tenths of that second were occupied by Ven glaring at the duo, who chuckled at his expression. Then he sighed, turned to Eraqus, and brought his blade into battle stance.

"Begin!"

Ven rushed forward with a swift dash, arcing around an upward blow from Eraqus. He leapt against one of the four poles that rose in the corners of the forecourt before surging out, flipping halfway through the air and slamming a kick into Eraqus' back. The strike sent Eraqus stumbling forward as Ven reversed his flip, hit the ground, slammed his palm to the paving and swept into a kick that knocked Eraqus off his feet.

The rapier clattered to the ground.

So did Eraqus.

Ven got to his feet, rose, and glanced at Terra and Aqua, who were watching with wide eyes and open mouths.

"What? I told you I was a speed fighter."

+x+x+x+

"I still can't believe you took out Master Eraqus in under ten seconds and didn't even take a scratch."

Aqua and Ven had retired to their chamber - the nameplate now had _Ventus_ written in his swift scrawl in addition to _Aqua_ in the spellweaver's fluid calligraphy. Eraqus had said they would move a second bed into the room as soon as they got the chance, but until then Aqua had insisted that she would take the bedroll.

Ven only shrugged, still getting used to the added weight. As a student of Departure Temple, he now bore fragments of armour not unlike Aqua's and Terra's. Upon his left shoulder was now a pauldron of bright gold, dangling from his waist was a segmented portion of a chestplate, and around his feet were sabatons that resembled simple street shoes. Ven thought that fragmented armour wouldn't be too handy in a fight (although he understood the logic of closed shoes), but he figured it was purely a symbolic thing.

"I wasn't trying anything impressive," he replied. "I just like to take down a stronger foe fast. What was the previous record?"

"Four minutes and four seconds," Aqua stated, shuffling around her desk for a stylo. "Terra held that record and only won by disarm. Mine took half an hour and even then Eraqus had to declare a draw."

Ven angled his head to the side. "Given you're not aware if Terra knows you're a spellweaver," he mused, "I take it you weren't spewing flame and thunder."

Aqua shook her head. "Eraqus didn't know about my magic yet," she told him.

"I see." Ven rolled his head on his shoulders and got to his feet. "Hey, you mind if I take a walk around the temple? I want to kinda... know about this myself."

His reply was a nod. "I don't mind," she replied, supporting a stack of blank pages with her hands. "Stay out of the obsidian chamber, though." She snatched a stylo from behind the stack as the door closed.

+x+x+x+

At the same time Ventus was wandering the halls of Departure Temple, another, altogether more ominous figure was making his way towards the temple itself. His dark garments contrasted brilliantly with the bright of the day, and his face was obscured. A basic sensory enchantment had surrounded Departure Temple for generations on end, each one tied to the current Master, but it had taken the dark figure almost no effort to detect, identify, and bypass the enchantment, leaving Eraqus unaware in his chamber.

What he didn't detect, let alone bypass, was the far more sophisticated sensory enchantment laid upon the goldstone of the temple itself. Aqua, who had crafted the spell herself during one of her 'sessions', had tied it to her essence so that whenever someone entered the structure she would know their weapon, body temperature, physical ability, and whether or not they had any magic.

When the dark figure had set his left foot on the steps of the temple, Aqua had given a gasp of shock, dropping her stylo halfway through a Persian character. This presence defied everything that she was familiar with. The figure that made their way through the temple now had magic. They had a _lot_ of magic. But it was an ominous magic, a particularly _necrous_ arcana that Aqua would never dare use herself. Their physical ability... it was intense - the kind of raw power that would catch Terra's flamberge between two fingers and call him a novice.

But the presence... it was a _cold_ presence, one that sent ice racing down Aqua's spine in a literal sense.

Ventus came to a stop atop what appeared to be a set of stairs, a smooth cut through the goldstone. He was curious - for most of the temple's rooms seemed to be in the raised portion, to the point that anything below those rooms seemed to be purely support. Unaware of what awaited him, he slowly started his way down the steps - and as his foot connected with the top step, Aqua's door swung open without warning. The mage spun in her seat and nearly screamed.

Standing at the door was a figure who looked like hellfire incarnate. He was clad in a bodysuit of what Aqua could have _sworn_ was muscle tissue. It was necrous black that faded to bloodred over the hands, and a bloodred pattern was over the torso. Three belts wove around his waist, holding a split kilt of black cloth. He wore shoes with steel soles at least an inch thick, and a mask - two steel guards perfect for guarding a smack, holding a sphere of one-way glass blacker than night. At his belt, on his left side - though Aqua couldn't determine his grip - was a black, curved sheath holding a sword within it, but it was strange - almost as if... it was extra.

Ventus arrived at the base of the stairs to find a door. It wasn't the blackfire ebony of the rest of the chambers, nor the obsidian chamber's slab of onyx-imbued stone. Rather, the door before him was a metallic surface he couldn't describe. It was covered in markings, unfamiliar patterns of which no two were the same. Some were rather basic - a six-sided gem design, a medal, a book, a seashell. Others had a little more detail - a fairy, a dress slipper, a Jack-O-Lantern, a feather. Still others were rather articulate - a Greek-looking medallion, a thorned rose, a classic wishing lamp, and what appeared to be a bird of some sort.

But Ven's gaze was brought to one near the center of the door. It was a design of what appeared to be two feathers, arced into a tornado-esque formation. In the center was a shape meant to represent a gem. Slowly, he reached forward and set his finger upon that design; and the door shone bright before fading away. Curiousity burning, he stepped forward.

Aqua braced her hand back, ready to draw her weapon if the situation demanded. "Who are you?"

The dark figure did not reply. His gaze drifted around the room, taking in details. "Sorry to bother you," he said finally, his tone confirming he wasn't sorry in the slightest. "Must've got the wrong room." He turned away and made his way down the hall, leaving Aqua there with the worst experience she'd ever felt. She was silent for a long moment.

"Ven."

+x+x+x+

The chamber that Ven stepped into was a hall of goldstone lit with phyre orbs that burned _blue_. Lining the walls were chains - lengths of metal, fabric, vine, anything that could bind the tokens at one end to anything else. Ven's gaze drifted from side to side, looking across the chains until something directly ahead caught his attention.

Sitting at the far end of the hall was a massive slab of goldstone streaked with obsidian. Imbedded in that slab were weapon-esque shapes - long shafts impaled in the stone beneath them, crossed in a _χ_ formation. Slowly, Ven stepped towards them, feeling inexplicably drawn. One of the shafts was gold, the other silver; both of them had handles of black. Without even thinking about it, he let his hand be drawn to the golden shaft, closing his fingers around the handle.

Reflexively, he pulled it out of the stone.

Without warning, an image rushed through his mind - Fujin at the plains where she had given him the Wingblade, glancing at him as though longing for something. _"Advice. No gold."_

Then energy behind him caused Ventus to turn as the door opened again.

* * *

Draco: I damn well better not have to tell you who that is, what those are, or how that works. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	8. Flying Keys

Draco: Alright, time to get started on this dung again. Little notice: Light party "En guarde!" followed by dark party "Alez!" is from my dA work.

No products of the Kingdom Hearts franchise belong to me.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Flying Keys**

"Really? It's you?"

Ventus could not respond; he was too shocked by his confrontor's appearance. Face obscured by a black mask, a bodysuit of muscle tissue, and a dark shape at his waist, there was a lot of shadow in the figure that stood eye to obscured eye with Ven.

The masked figure started to step forward. "Here I was," he mused, "hoping I could get my hands on that Key before some dumbass lighthopath wrecked this place - and now you're standing there with the dark one in hand." He shook his head. "The Master's gonna crack my skull for this one."

Ven was confused. "Key?" He glanced at the shape in his hands and pulled back with a shout of exclamation.

Sitting in his hand was not a simple shape. The black handle and golden shaft were unchanged - but now circling Ven's hand was a squared handguard of silver. It met the golden shaft at a ring of crimson, and at the tip of the shaft was a jagged crown shape, forming a shape not unlike that of a skeleton key.

"Man, you really are clueless."

The voice caused Ven's gaze to raise to see the masked boy standing face to masked face with him. Ven pulled back, but the boy only stepped past him. "I shouldn't be surprised," he admitted. "You've been up and around over here for what, two days? I don't suppose that old haori is gonna tell you worth shit until you're already dead - and then some."

He approached the remaining shaft in the goldstone-and-obsidian slab, which was now shimmering with something unworldly. The masked boy closed his fingers around the black handle and pulled, drawing the silver shaft out of the stone. A flare of light bathed the weapon until he was holding a shape the same as the one in Ven's hand.

But where Ven's was golden with a silver guard, the masked boy's was silver guarded by gold.

The masked boy held the weapon straight vertical before him, the sharpened teeth of the skeleton key aiming at the sky. "He'll cut my ass open if I don't come back with both." He turned back to Ven and swept the weapon straight to his side.

"So sorry," he said in a tone that said he wasn't sorry at all. "But I'm gonna have to take that from you."

Ven pulled back. "What?" He glanced at the skeleton key in his hand, then at the masked boy. Then he arced the weapon into a backhand grip so that the flat edge was facing out, holding it before him.

A sigh emerged as the masked boy lowered his weapon to his side. "You're doing it wrong," he muttered, raising a hand to the glass of his mask. Then he snickered, raising his gaze. "Fine."

He raised the weapon again - this time in an arc over his head with the teeth falling earthward. "That means I can say I'm following an example." Ven only glared.

"En guarde!"

"Alez!"

The two rushed towards each other. Ven swung the gold key as he would his wingblade - but the weapon was too long, too weighty, to be effectively wielded in a backhand grip, and he missed by a foot. The masked boy lashed around with a power blow via the silver key, but he, too, seemed to have little success with the unfamiliar weapon. They crossed each other two feet away, came to a stop back to back, and glanced at each other over their shoulders.

Ven spun around, using the weight of the key for momentum, but the masked boy arced around it with a spiral. He swung the weapon with an overhead blow, made for crushing, but Ven danced around him as the teeth embedded in the ground. They struck out simultaneously once again, their weapons clashing - and a thousand mystic sparks tore between them as they were sent flying.

The masked boy skidded on the ground.

The silver key clattered out of his hand.

Ven bounced into a backflip.

The gold key caught the floor halfway through.

Both of them glanced at each other for a long time. "This isn't working," the masked boy said finally. "Draw your good weapon, I'll draw mine, and if anyone asks, we were clashing keys."

Ven nodded. "I can live with that."

He reached for the Wingblade at his belt and arced it into his battle stance with a shearing scream of a drawing sword. The blue phyrelight gleamed off his weapon brilliantly, the articulate curves of the engraved feathers making powerful shines in the air, and the boy in the mask seemed to chuckle to himself before drawing his weapon.

It was an onyx-black blade with a handle wrapped in white leather that looked positively necrous, contrasting brilliantly with the shadowy bloodred-and-jetblack of his bodysuit. But it was also a wing - a jet-black, leathery wing that would fit on a demon's back, shimmering with darkness. It was a fibre-thin plate that was carved and sharpened to a deathly hue, and when the blue phyrelight caught it, it very well could have been against the night sky.

Ven didn't waste time dwelling on the masked boy's weapon. "En guarde!"

The boy arced the blade over his head as he had the silver key. "Alez!"

They rushed each other again, this time their blows clashing halfway across. The speed of Ven's blow sent him glancing past the masked boy, but the power in the masked boy's blow meant Ven was spiralling around. He used it to his advantage and arced into a spinning flurry that cut across the boy's back. The boy retaliated with a demonic speed, whirling around and slamming a falling blow that would have cleaved Ven's skull in two if he had still been there.

Ven whirled his blade in hand as his opponent used the momentum from the misaimed strike and spun around. The mask gleamed as he rushed forward, striking out, and Ven arced around him swiftly before rolling away as the masked boy leapt and tried to imaple the demon blade in his skull.

A surge of ice caught him in the chest halfway down.

The masked boy flew back, falling to the ground. Ven spun to see Aqua standing at the base of the steps, casting blade raised. "Aqua!"

The spellweaver's eyes had a horror within them. "Ventus... what did you do?"

Ven didn't have much time to do _anything_ before he heard a familiar sound - a blade turning through the air.

He spun to see the Wingblade-esque demon sword arcing towards him, but he struck it to the ground as the masked boy got to his feet. Ven saw where his gaze was going before Aqua did.

The masked boy leapt towards the gold key weapon, but Ven rushed forward faster. His Wingblade fell to the ground as his weapon hand flew forward, grabbing the key by the handle in a forehand grip. He didn't have time to switch to a backhand grip; he spun around and lashed out with the weapon, slamming a painful blow across the masked boy's torso and sending him arcing back.

A _thud_ sounded as the boy hit the ground, but he chuckled with his helm flat. "Now you're gettin' it."

Ven wasn't sure what he was referring to until he realized he had the blade straight at his side.

The masked boy's legs arced into a split, and he spiralled on the back of his shoulders as he flew into the air, landing next to the silver key. "You put up more of a fight than I thought possible out a soft boy like you," he mused. "There's a fine line between a speed fighter and a seige speedster - and you got feet on both sides."

He picked up the key smoothly. "I fear I spent far long teasing and toying with you," he murmured to himself, running his hand down the shaft. "But that won't happen again." Menacingly, the boy levelled the key on Ventus, who braced himself for another round.

"Know your enemy, know yourself, and you need not fear the result of a thousand battles," the masked boy stated. "Run and play this time." He arced the key before him. "Cross me again, though, and you're dead."

A flare of darkness consumed him, causing him to vanish.

Ven was still for the longest time. Then he stepped toward his Wingblade, picked it up, and turned to Aqua. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Who was that guy?"

Aqua's gaze was focused on the key in Ven's right hand. She seemed depressed, horrified, shocked - all at the same time. "Ventus... we need to talk."

"No, Aqua," he insisted. "Just tell me." He held out the gold key. "What is this?"

"Ven..." She shook her head. "That... is a _Keyblade._"

* * *

Draco: "What? Ven with the dark one?" If that's you, I reccomend checkin' out some of the beta for BbS. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	9. Kīburēdo

Draco: Sorry for the delay. Again. Anyone still reading this? I feel like I lost my audience after my break between 6 and 7. If you read, review! Please!

I wonder if I can get away with saying 'insert copyright shenanagins here' on this site.

* * *

**Chapter 9: **** Kīburēdo**

"Key... blade?"

Ventus glanced at the gold weapon. It didn't have the edge of a blade, but its size made it too big to be any normal key. It was too long, too weighty, and it had an awkward sweetspot for strikes.

Aqua nodded. "Ven, that key in your hands is a powerful weapon. It's something that is part of a dangerous legend. And that boy who was in here..." She shook her head. "Ven, I feel like something big is about to happen. It might..." She paused for a moment. "It might even be bigger... than the Seraph."

That shocked Ven down to the bone. "Bigger... than the Seraph?" He shook his head. "Does Eraqus know about this? Any of this?"

"He does."

Aqua and Ventus both turned to see Eraqus standing at the entrance to the chamber.

"Kuso," Aqua muttered.

Ven had a feeling she wasn't spellcasting.

Eraqus stepped forward. "Ventus, you have no idea what you are handling right now. It was bad enough that you were to come across the obsidian chamber with Wingblade in hand, but now that you're holding that weapon-"

"Would you stop treating me like a child!"

Ven's outburst caught Eraqus off-guard. He held out the 'Keyblade' before him. "Look, I get it. I'm delving into things I shouldn't be. I'm a curious little acran who just so happens to be the Seraph and can't keep still. But you're _hiding_ things from me. And you _know_ it." He raised the weapon menacingly. "And I _know_ you know it."_  
_

Eraqus was silent for a long moment. "Aqua will brief you on the details of the Keyblade," he stated finally. "I suggest you both pack."

Then he turned away. "You have a journey ahead of you."

+x+x+x+

"Well, that went south."

Ven and Aqua had returned to their chamber. Ven was looking for the bag he had packed previously, while Aqua was packing a bag of her own. She scrambled around for a bit, sifting through her bookshelves as though deciding which ones would be necessary. She had already thrown in a few changes of garments, as well as the parchment on which Eraqus had written the scriptures from the obsidian chamber.

"Now's not the time to talk light, Ven," Aqua stated. "Master Eraqus _never_ sends us on a journey. _Ever_. If there's things he needs done, he does them _himself._"

"And your scout position?" Ven prompted.

"Lookout," Aqua corrected. "One is not enough for a twenty-four hour watch."

Ven sighed. "True enough," he replied. "Where's my bag?"

"Under the bed," Aqua replied. "Where I hid your sword."

The speed fighter scrambled under and pulled out the bag. "Eraqus gonna give us rations?" he asked.

Aqua angled her hand from side to side. "Possibly." She picked one book from the shelf and looked at it carefully. "This should do." She slipped it into her bag and turned to Ven. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Ven replied. He sat down on the bed and sighed. Against the wall he had laid the Keyblade, its golden shaft reflecting the phyrelight. "Eraqus said you were going to tell me about that," he muttered.

The spellweaver sighed. "The Keyblade... a weapon with unbound power. Its force is beyond that which anyone can claim on their own. That particular Keyblade is one of two Kingdom Keys - one of light, one of darkness. They are two halves of the same weapon - a weapon that is sought after by light and shadow alike."

Ven was silent a moment. "That masked boy said... I had the dark one."

"Well, maybe you'll need it," Aqua admitted. "Remember the Wings of the Seraph? The second wing said _dawn and dusk_. And the fifth said _shade in a sea of light_. Maybe that's why you grabbed the dark one."

"Yeah," Ven admitted. He groaned, his face falling into his hands. "Fujin's gonna kill me."

Aqua was caught by surprise. "Fujin? Isn't that one of the kami you mentioned? Why would she care about this?"

"Just before she let me go," Ven explained, "she told me, _No gold._ At first, I thought she was insulting me. After a while, I figured she was just saying 'Hey, there's going to be a big competition that you're gonna be forced into. Winning isn't mandatory, so don't push yourself for victory because it'll just waste you.' And then the gold is sitting there, and I'm a big enough idiot take it."

"I..." Aqua sighed. "Ven..."

Ven glanced around. "I need to say this before any more of my idiot moves kill us," he confided to Aqua. "I... I'm impatient. I act on instinct. I can't sit still without either my hands or my mind moving. You need to know that and stop me from doing anything else that might end up calamatious."

Aqua smiled. "You know, I was wondering when I'd get the chance."

That caught _Ven_ by surprise. "Chance?"

The spellweaver got to her feet and started to shift among one of the levels of her bookshelves that wasn't packed with books - yet. "Where did I put it... Here we are." She drew out from under a stack a large, nondescript box.

Ven's eyebrow disappeared under his hair. "And that is?"

"It's a board game," Aqua replied. "It's called Command Board. It's really getting popular around Betwixt lately. I thought you and I might play when there's nothing to do."

"Um..." Ven chuckled nervously. "Sounds good." Aqua slipped the box into her bag.

A knock on the door caused them to turn. "Aqua? Ventus? Eraqus is waiting for you. He's right outside."

"Got it!" Ven called. His eyes widened, and he turned to the Keyblade. "How are we going to hide that?" he asked Aqua quietly.

"Simple," Aqua replied. "A Keyblade vanishes when its not in use so long as you will it to. If it's picked up by someone else, it'll vanish instantly and reappear in your hands."

Ven thought that was kind of sketchy, but he narrowed his gaze on the Keyblade and visualized it disappearing - and with a flare of white, it did. "That worked," he mused.

Aqua nodded, unsurprised. "It did." Clearly, being a spellweaver had its advantages. "Come on, let's not keep Master Eraqus waiting."

+x+x+x+

Claws... hurt.

Claws of darkness hurt more.

Claws of darkness _against_ darkness? You'd be surprised.

The masked assailant who had ambushed Ven was surrounded by dark claws - neon shadows with thunderbolt antennae and shining golden eyes. He had been deprived of his dark Wingblade, and in his hands now was the silver Key. But the weight of the unfamiliar weapon made it damn near impossible for him to make any headway against them.

His master stood at the edge of the shadows.

"You accept my mission to locate the weapons. You boast that you'll have both of them in hand by the time you return. And then you come here holding light - and you tell me that the darkness has been captured by a member of that temple."

One of the shadows leapt up and struck him.

"Feckless neophyte."

The masked boy raised his gaze. "How was I supposed to know he would take the dark one?" he snapped. "How was I supposed to know he knew his weapon well enough to strike me down? You never told me he was this powerful!"

"You should have expected it."

With a low growl, the boy stepped forward. The neon shadows leapt at him, but it one swift move he arced the silver Keyblade into a spinning strike that split them all. When more started to rise, he slammed his palm into the ground - and the same type of small, twitchy figures that Ven had met when he had met Raijin shot up, splitting the shadows in single blows before vanishing again.

"Did you look over the mercenary listing I gave you?"

The masked boy turned. "Looking for some extra muscle?"

"Looking for some efficient muscle in the first place."

"What?" If it weren't for his mask, the master would have seen the boy's eyes stretch. "Are you saying...?"

"You will have your role. And it will not be a minor role, either. However, I need a reliable warrior and you have proven yourself unable to handle that."

And _that_ is how you piss off a fighter. Under normal circumstances, the masked boy would have struck out - but his master had proven himself far superior. "Are you looking for a mass of warriors, or a select skillset?"

"If I want a mass of warriors, I have them already."

The masked boy nodded - he had the perfect name already.

"You'll want the Thirteen."

+x+x+x+

When Ventus and Aqua stepped out of the temple, the first thing they saw was Eraqus, flying towards them as though tossed wildly. Aqua raised her hand, crafting a barrier of crystals before them that caught Eraqus, halted his momentum, and dropped him to the top of the stairs, where he fell forward weakly. The spellweaver gripped her hand, upon which Ven could see small crystal slivers.

But there was a much bigger problem, because there was a wind kami standing at the bottom of the stairs. One eye was hidden, and the other was glaring straight at Ven, who knew he was screwed when he saw the fire behind it.

"Fujin..."

She did not waste time with words. The second Fujin caught sight of Ven, she was in front of him in a flare of wind, grabbing him by the shirt. The speed fighter didn't stand a chance; Ven gave a shout of horror as the kami hurled him away from the temple. She leapt into the air, flying after him with no wings to keep her aloft, and slammed a flipping kick that sent Ventus flying to the ground.

It was there, a few inches from the ground, that he heard Aqua shout, "Mujūryoku!"

Ven's fall suspended instantly, keeping him lifted a few feet off the ground with Fujin floating above him, wind whirling in her eye; then the anti-gravity faded, and he hit the ground as the wind kami flipped backwards. She landed at the base of the steps, arced her hands back as though to throw something, and rushed forward, her very movements ripping wind in the air behind her. The wind propelled her further, and she raised her hand to land a blow...

And Aqua appeared in a flaring rift.

Fujin came to an stop without skid and actually stepped back in shock. Wind whirled behind her eye as she locked gazes with the mancer. Aqua stood there, immobile, returning the glare; but only a few moments passed before Aqua gave a gasp of pain and fell to her knees, her body weak. Ven struggled to get to his own feet as Fujin sighed. A wave of the wind kami's hand, and breeze began to flow around Aqua.

Then the kami turned back to Ven, and the hurricane behind her eye returned.

"I'm sorry!" Ven shouted, raising his hands defensively.

"Sorry?" Fujin shouted back. "_Sorry?!_ **_Fool!_**" She rushed forward and struck Ven center in the chest, sending him flying. He managed to right himself and skid to a stop, raising his gaze.

The wind kami took two steps forward, and her footprints sent wind arcing along the ground, forming a ring around her and Ven. The moment the ring closed, hurricane winds began to rip around it, giving them the eye of a storm as a battlefield between goddess and Seraph.

"Not worthy."

Fujin thrust her hand out, and a vortex of wind spiralled from the palm. That wind sped up fast before coming to an abrupt stop, forming a thin, sharp wind wheel, and she braced that before her. In a panic, Ven realized that Fujin was going to fight him; he drew the Wingblade fast, bracing himself to defend.

But that was not an intelligent move, because _Fujin_ had given him that weapon, and now she lowered her wind wheel and held her left hand out towards him. The Wingblade pulled from his hand, flew through the air, and landed in Fujin's in a backhand grip to mirror his.

She arced herself into stance; wind wheel before her, Wingblade raised to cross its ring.

Ven had no other choice.

He willed the Keyblade to appear in his hand.

And in a flare of something necrous and gold, there it was - a skeleton key shining with darkness, a golden shaft with a squared ring of silver to guard his hands. He braced the weapon in a backhand - it was more weighty than anything he was accustomed to, but he had learned his lesson when he had fought the masked boy, and he knew how to compensate.

Fujin rushed forward with speed beyond any foe Ven had ever fought, swinging her wind wheel with the Wingblade brought back as a secondary. Ven started his movement when she took her first step and ended when she swung the weapon, and all he did was move half a metre to one side.

He was already swinging his blade by the time Fujin had completed her missed strike, and the shaft of the Keyblade struck her in the stomach, knocking her back. She skidded across the storm's-eye battlefield from the force within the weapon, razing a pair of lines where her feet were touching the ground, and he rushed forward after her.

Normally, he would go straight for his opponent, swinging his weapon so it would strike before him; but now he aimed just to the left, swinging the Keyblade in his right hand, and the overweighted weapon, that would have arced him around his foe, now connected straight with the goddess. Fujin flew back from the uppercut strike, whirling nearly into the winds, and hitting the ground briefly. Her fingers were still hooked around her wind wheel, but the Wingblade had clattered to the ground.

Ven grabbed the angelwing sword and slid it into his sheath with his left hand before raising his gaze.

That took too long.

Fujin was already there, swinging her wind wheel. The acran force in the bladed ring sent Ven flying, and he skidded along the ground as she rushed forward, leaping for a downward strike.

Ven swung the Keyblade above him.

And the _moment_ Fujin's weapon hit his, there was a surge of unbound power that sent the wind goddess flying.

The storm died. Fujin arced back, flying far enough that if it had been in the direction of the temple, she would have entered Aqua's room. She hit the ground hard, her weapon digging into the earth and rolling away. Ven got to his feet, supporting himself with the Keyblade, and stepped forward, the Key dangling limp in his hands as he approached the wind kami, who lie there weak - one hand was on her stomach where the first hit had landed, the other was gripping her shoulder from where her own weapon had cut when it had been dislodged.

Ventus stepped up to her, whirled the Key to a forehand grip, and levelled it on Fujin's helm as she turned.

And the Keyblade vanished.

No, Fujin did not have the power to make a Keyblade vanish when _she_ wanted it to. It was simply that when she had turned to face Ven, and he had seen what now he was seeing, his subconscious had faded the weapon so that it did not fall and harm Fujin further when his hand went slack.

Fujin's hair had been blown loose from the shockwave, it had drifted with her turn - and now, as she glared at Ven, both of her eyes were exposed. No, not both of her eyes. The fiery red of her left eye that had gazed, glared, and met Ven's face many times was no different - but her right eye was an empty void, a visual scarred beyond repair, a broken sphere of sapphire that tremored with wind that had lost its way.

Ven stepped back in shock, and Fujin reached up and covered her wounded eye. The two of them stood there, quiet for the longest moment, gazing towards each other not understanding. Then, slowly, Fujin let her gaze fall guiltily, as though she had been caught doing something that she had declared to be firmly against.

"Sorry."

The apology from the wind goddess was beyond Ven's understanding. Slowly, she got to her feet and turned away, vanishing in a flurry of gusts.

Ven was quiet for a long moment before turning back towards the temple. Aqua seemed to have recovered and was now on her feet, watching Ven non-understandingly. Eraqus had likewise recovered, and he was now waiting for Ven so that he might give the speed fighter his mission before he departed.

The Seraph stepped towards the temple, ready to accept that mission.

* * *

Draco: The Thirteen will be featured in the next chapter. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	10. The Thirteenth Order

Draco: Insert copyright shenanagins here. I'm sorry, really this is lame of me, but I don't have anything to say at the start except the copyright shenanagins.

Oh, wait, yes I do. More Final Fantasy folks will start showing up due to the inclusion of Traverse Town, and possibly some WorldEndsWithYou people. Insert more copyright shenanagins here.

* * *

**Chapter 10: The Thirteenth Order**

An area caught in perpetual eclipse is not generally easy to get used to. But the elder who slowly approached the massive castle that was smack-dab in the center of that perpetual eclipse couldn't help but be impressed by the fact that the mercenary known only as the Thirteen had managed to find himself there. The castle itself was a beauty - a structure of shining white steel befitting a lord, not light and yet not dark, standing out against the shadows.

As the elder neared the castle, however, he found a problem in the form of a shining pit - a pit over which the castle was suspended.

His problem was solved when a flurry of energy thorns appeared before him. He stepped back as those thorns parted to reveal a figure in a black cloak. A hood was raised over the face of the figure, but slowly, he reached towards that hood and drew it back.

The cloaked one _emnated_ power. His skin was tanned like fire, and his silver hair arced at the sides of his face like drawn curtains. His ears tapered to necrous points, and his eyes shone dark gold. There was energy sparking around his hands - a powerful energy that was not aligned to light or shadow, not elemental by any definition - the sparks were just _nothing_.

"Who might you be?"

The elder returned the question with his own golden gaze.

"I have been told this was the residence of the mercenary known as the Thirteen."

The cloaked one slowly nodded.

"You were told correct... give or take thirteen. State your business."

"There is a boy - a speed fighter - who is setting out on a journey. That journey will be of great hinderance to myself and my allies."

"You would like me to eliminate him."

The guess caused the elder to shake his head.

"No, not eliminate him. I need you to slow him down. Make him take dangerous paths. Eliminate his allies, if it should come to that - but allow him to live."

The explanation caused the cloaked figure to perch his hand upon his chin, catching his elbow in his opposite palm.

"Your request is... difficult. You should know, my prices are not for the weak of heart - or the shallow of wallet."

A smirk from the elder.

"Price is no objection. I have gold-"

"I don't want gold. I have gold."

The cutoff made the elder hesitate.

"I have materials worthy of crafting immortal weapons."

"Then perhaps, if my price must be raised, you should keep them handy."

Another hesitation. The cloaked figure sighed and turned away. Thorns of the energy that was just _nothing_ began to rise from the earth around him when the elder spoke.

"Armour."

The thorns paused, though they did not fade completely.

"Armour...?"

"I will give you armour charged with the blackest darkness. No weapon can penetrate, no strike can pierce. It withstands all blows completely but those by a weapon as that it is meant to accompany - and even against such a weapon, your helm will be bare before the armour is no longer of any use."

A hesitation from the opposite party; then the thorns faded as the cloaked one turned.

"I... accept."

+x+x+x+

Meanwhile, a small meeting room not very far at all was occupied by various warriors. No two of them were the same in body - some were tall, some muscled, others short, one lanky as kindling. In the same manner, no two of them were the same in personality - a gambler, a bored gunslinger, two very different sadists, and the aforemented lanky as spontaneous as fire.

A yawn emerged from the youngest of the warriors. He was also the most inexperienced, and the most different in terms of efficiency. He never worked on his own - not from a lack of trust by those superior, but because he and his ally had proven time and time again that two can work like three.

One of the sadists - a woman with volt-gold hair arced into antennae - and the lanky, spontaneous warrior - whose facial markings and spiked mane of fire were unmistakeable - were playing cards with the gambler - a white-haired figure whose face was encased by sideburns and a goatee, a fighter who knew his way around a deck and could bluff like a cliff.

There was one thing that all of them had in common.

Though no two of them were exactly the same, they all wore a cloak of darkness.

And when the silver-haired cloak who had spoken with the elder stepped into the room, everyone got to their feet and stood straight.

+x+x+x+

Ventus gave a yawn. He and Aqua were currently making their way to what Raijin would inevitably have labelled as 'Point B' if Departure Temple was 'Point A'. The sun was setting in the distance, but Aqua had refused to stop - she pressed onward like an army commandress, and Ventus, feeling a lot like a footsoldier who was experiencing punishment, had no choice but to follow.

"Where are we headed, again?" he asked. Eraqus had given them directions, but nothing in terms of a description.

"A little place called Traverse Town," Aqua explained, not stopping to talk. "Think of it like a hotel next to a well-travelled intersection. It's divided into five districts, with a few back alleys and a lot of shops. They say that if someone finds a seat in the First District to just watch and wait, everyone they have met will pass by sooner or later."

Ven thought about his time in Half Enix. And he thought about the masked boy who had fought him with the dark Wingblade. "Then let's not find a seat in the First District," he mused.

Aqua slowed her pace slightly. "Agreed," she said after a while, picking back up. "We'll just find a place to stay for the night."

+x+x+x+

"You should pack."

The masked boy, who was looking the silver Key over in his hands curiously, now spun towards the door to see his master stepping inside. "That went fast," he mused. "I take it you didn't have to do too much bargaining?"

"You will be going on a journey. Pack garments more suitable for travel."

The no-nonsense terms caused the masked boy to glance down at himself. He was wearing muscle tissue. That muscle tissue had taken Wingblade, magic, Key, in that order and still looked as though it had been dry-cleaned the day it had been purchased. "Todays forecast is... sunny, with a chance of flaming _necran_," he stated, raising his gaze to his master.

He had only used the term 'flaming' as a substitute for a curse, but his master nodded, starting towards the shadows within which waited his throne.

"Darkness takes in fire. The sun razes heat against the plains of Betwixt this time of year. You would be wise to find something that won't absorb that heat. In addition, you will be travelling in populated areas. Do you believe that a battlesuit like your own won't draw attention?"

"Oh," the masked boy mused, "hell's getting real now, is it?

"Pack."

"Damn."

+x+x+x+

Departure Temple is huge.

So Departure Temple with only two people seems pretty empty.

Terra was bored. There was _nothing_ to do. Training with his sword got boring easily. Books did not interest him. He never did get the chance to have a round with the speed fighter, Ventus, and Aqua wasn't around to play Command Board.

_Aqua..._

The power striker pounded the wall. He had been working up the courage to ask Aqua out for three months now. He had already done the job of asking Eraqus if a day off would be inconvenient so he and Aqua could pay a visit to one of the nearby towns - and the Master had said that unless he specifically said otherwise on such a day, they were free to leave.

But now, Aqua was gone. She and Ventus had left for a mission of Seraph knows what purpose, and now he was alone with nothing to do and no one to do it with. Eraqus had halted all training for the day, but without Aqua around Terra really didn't care.

Without any other ideas, he got to his feet and started to wander. He let his feet take him where they wanted to go.

+x+x+x+

"So, this brat is my target, huh?"

The sadist with the antennae of gold was looking over a form that her Superior had given her. It showed the simple image of a village boy in a black-and-white shirt and a pair of baggy leggings. His feet wore silver sabatons shaped like street shoes, and his hair was a windly colour and swept to one side like the wind had hit it while his hair gel was drying.

The Superior nodded.

The sadist sighed. "Well, he ripped off the little boy's hairdo, I'll give him that." She leaned back, throwing the sheet to the table. "So why am I going after him?" she asked. "Do the village punks got a problem? Did he make out with his brother's girlfriend behind their back? Is he gay or something?"

"His name is Ventus. He is setting off on a journey that will provide problems. Our client wants him to have problems of his own."

This caused the sadist to raise an eyebrow. "Wait... I'm not allowed to kill him?" she asked. The Superior nodded. "Then why the hell did you bring me in on this one?"

"You are allowed to torture him."

A gleam lit up in her eyes at that.

The Superior took the sheet and handed her another one. This one featured a girl with blue hair in garments made to fit tight. She had a pauldron on either shoulder and fancy-looking sabatons, and in her hands was what looked like a wand with a diamond tip.

"This is Aqua. She will be accompanying him. Only kill her if she will provide a problem. Elsewise, simply bring her in the same direction as you will Ventus. Be warned, however, she is skilled with... articulate combat."

A snicker. "Looking pretty ain't gonna save your ass on the battlefield," she observed.

"She's a mancer."

"Yeah, yeah, clouds and angels," the sadist mused. "So what kind of problems should I give them?"

"Make them take dangerous paths. Rest in dangerous places. I'm left with the impression the objective is to make Ventus stronger - challenging him yourself may not be a bad idea."

The sadist thought for a moment.

"Are they of age?"

* * *

Draco: I'll let your imagination guess what Miss Antenna got in mind for Ven and Aqua. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	11. V For Victory

Draco: Hey all! (Hey all!) I'm gonna be active for a while due to the pissoff that deviantART is calling their new submit page. Match Game: After making sure they were of age, the sadist was certain to make sure that her victims got _blank_ by the end of the night.

Also, sorry if Neku seems a bit _Not Neku_ or the FF girls seem unlike them. I haven't played World Ends With You or any of the Final Fantasy games in themselves, so I'm not all too familiar with their personalities except that Sakubara is antisocial even moreso than Mizore Shirayuki.

Insert copyright shenanagins here.

* * *

**Chapter 11: V For Victory**

Ventus was about to collapse as he walked when he saw the lights. The sun had set, but they were still walking, and now he could see their destination - walls to guard the city, but the lights of a whole new world from within those walls.

"Is that..."

"Yeah," Aqua confirmed. "Traverse Town."

The place was busy. All over town, there were people - some busy, others idle, still others just waiting as the rumour would claim, one even leaning against a streetlamp with big earmuff headphones closed around his helm. Ven managed to keep himself walking as Aqua stepped up to the boy with headphones and tapped his shoulder.

The boy didn't react. Ven wondered if he was waiting for everyone he had met to pass by. Aqua tapped his shoulder again.

"Excuse me," she asked nicely.

Ven saw the boy's eyes shift ever-so-slightly towards her, but other than that he didn't respond.

Aqua tapped his shoulder a third time. "Pardon me," she said, raising her voice slightly.

The boy sighed, seeing no way out of this. "What do you want?" he demanded rudely.

The spellweaver was taken aback by that. "I was wondering if you could advise me a place to stay the night," she asked. "I'm not fami-"

"You go this way to Second District," the headphone boy interrupted, pointing past a building with a large neon sign that read _Jewlery._ "The hotel's on your left."

He closed his eyes, cutting off the conversation. Aqua simply adjusted her back and stepped past him. Ven glared at the boy and followed.

Once he had caught up with Aqua, he spoke. "He wasn't listening to anything."

Aqua turned to him. "Sorry?"

"The boy with the headphones," Ven elaborated. "There was no music playing. They weren't even plugged in."

+x+x+x+

A few moments later, a boy with neon gold eyes stepped into First District from the same entrance - the only door in and out of town. He was in a black t-shirt without design and a pair of slightly baggy black leggings. His hair was shadow-black and spiked like a mace, and on his upper arm was a tattoo - a jagged emblem that may or may not have resembled a heart. Hooked on his waist to be drawn with his right hand was a sword.

He rolled his head on his shoulders and stretched his arms towards the sky. "Damn, how's that for a walk," he mused.

"You got nothing," countered a voice behind him.

The boy spun to see a woman standing there like a nymph poised to strike. She had volt-gold hair like antennae, and she was wearing a cloak black as night. "Who are you?" the boy asked.

"Ooh, someone's a bit unhappy," the woman mused. "The name's Larxene. And you are?"

"You can call me V," the boy replied. "Assuming you need me agan." He turned away and started off.

Larxene grabbed his shoulder. "Don't run off," she snapped. "You wouldn't happen to be after a couple lovebirds on a journey, would you?"

V rolled his eyes. "She's taken and he's out-of-her-league-in-the-making," he reprimanded. "They're not lovebirds."

Then he stopped. "Wait, you're not..."

"I'm on your side," Larxene explained. "Let's find 'em and somewhere to get... refreshments."

That brought a smirk to V's face. "Sounds like a plan," he mused menacingly. He glanced around for someone who didn't look suspicious and saw the boy with headphones. Quickly, he stepped up and grabbed his shoulder. "Hey," he called.

The boy glanced at him as Larxene stepped up and looked like he had seen this before. Then he shrugged V's hand off and turned back towards what looked like an overhang.

V glared. "I'm talking to you," he snapped, grabbing the headphones off his head. The boy spun towards him and went for the headphones - but V only grabbed his hand and applied pressure. The headphone boy struggled, but V could see he was horrified by the strength in one hand.

Nobody had noticed.

"I'm gonna ask you a question," the macehead stated. "You're gonna give me an answer. Got it?"

The boy nodded. V released his hand. "I'm looking for a dude with spiky hair that the wind hit and a blunette bitch. You seen them?"

"That's actually really creepy," the boy admitted. "They just passed like seven seconds ago. They're at the hotel."

"Good boy," V stated. He tossed the headphones up. They hooked on the streetlamp, whirled about, and dangled from one earmuff. Then he and Larxene stepped away, leaving the boy looking as though he had been mugged.

+x+x+x+

Aqua paid for the hotel room, and she and Ventus did little more than step inside, drop their bags, and collapse on the king-sized bed side by side.

"I'm exhausted," Ven muttered into the blanket

"Same," Aqua agreed. She sighed and got to her feet. "Drop your sword, and let's get something to drink," she asked. "I think I saw a bar at the other end of the district."

Ven felt nervous as he rolled onto his back so he could face her directly. "Is that really neccessary?" he asked. "Won't Eraqus beat the snap out of us with his rapier if he found out we were at a bar?"

"Eraqus isn't here," Aqua reminded him. "And if he was, you could take him down in less than ten seconds."

Ven yet hesitated. "Aqua... I don't know."

Aqua was surprised. "What's wrong?" she asked. "You act like you've never been out at night before." Before he could respond, Aqua grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to his feet. "Come on, Ven, it'll be fun!"

+x+x+x+

Larxene and V stepped into the Second District at the same moment Ventus and Aqua stepped out of the hotel. V dragged Larxene into the shadows as Aqua glanced around looking for something.

"It must be in Third," she said to Ven, who was definitely trying to pry her fingers from around his arm. "Come on, let's go!"

Ven tried to protest. "Aqua..." But the mancer was having none of it as she started to drag him to the other end of the district.

"They're looking for the bar," V muttered.

"You don't say," Larxene mused. "That makes things easier." She elbowed V in the edge of the cornea. "I'll get them started on the drinks. Once they're a bit fuzzy, you can get in on this. Come on, it's quicker through First."

V stopped her. "Back up," he snapped. "I'll handle the girl."

Larxene only chuckled. "I thought you said she was taken?" she asked.

"So? She's not gonna remember worth shit tomorrow anyways."

+x+x+x+

Aqua did in fact find the bar in Third District, guarded by a door marked with fire. Practically dragging Ven in, she found the place already filled with partygoers. A trio of girls were performing a kind of trigram dance near the far wall, but Aqua could tell they weren't under the influence - they were just trying to get some attraction.

She pulled Ven to the counter and plopped him down on a stool before spinning into the one at his side. The bartender, a girl who looked like she was made to fight and get guys at the same time, turned towards them.

"Welcome to Seventh Heaven," she prompted. "Can I get you two anything?"

Ven glanced around nervously. "Are you usually this packed?" he asked.

Aqua slapped his shoulder. "Shut up, nerves," she snapped. Turning to the hostess, she added, "Mix me something with caramel and a kick like a greave," she requested eagerly, "and... Ven?"

Caught off-guard, Ven glanced at the bottles along the back. Seeing nothing he associated with a good memory, he replied nervously, "Maybe... a cola?"

"Get my friend here a Coke," Aqua finished, turning back to the bar.

"Alright." The hostess turned towards the back and began mixing.

It was at that moment that a woman in a long cloak sat herself down on Ven's other side. "Hey, speedy," she mused, "don't leave me behind next time."

Ven turned towards her. He was definitely certain he'd know that hairstyle if he'd seen it before. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Larxene," the woman replied. "I've been trying to keep up with you since you hit the gate. You look like a guy who needs to be shown a good time and... I like to show guys a good time." She set her hand on his arm.

Ventus pulled away as the hostess set down Aqua's drink in a tall frothing glass. She turned to Ven, drew out a crimson can of Coca-Cola from under the counter, and handed it to him before stepping towards Larxene. "What can I get you?"

"Surprise me," Larxene mused. "And start up a tab for me and these three."

"Three?" Ven glanced past Larxene to see no one was there. He turned past Aqua and yelped - suddenly, there was a guy that looked like he belonged with a black Winglade on his belt. "Where did you come from?"

The boy shrugged. Larxene pointed past Ven and Aqua to him. "This is V."

Aqua picked up her glass and turned to him. "And this is a crowd," she mused. She raised the glass to her lips and took a long drink as V turned to the hostess and spoke quickly in an indistinct voice to the hostess. Ven nervously cracked his cola and took a sip as Larxene and V were both given large drinking mugs and small metal cups with something to mix in.

The spellweaver turned to Ven with a moustache of caramel froth to see him looking out of place. "Come on, Ven," she teased, "relax!" She spun him round in his barstool, causing him to pull a 1260 before she grabbed him and pointed at the trigram of girls. "Why don't you go chat with them? Blondie looks like she needs someone who's gonna move fast."

Ven bit his lip. "I don't know..."

"Get goin'!" Aqua prompted, kicking him in the small of the back with her sabaton. Ven stumbled off the chair, but managed to save his Coca-Cola and right himself without running into anyone.

Larxene sighed, shifted seats, and mixed her drink before turning to V and Aqua. "Hope you know a good time," she mused.

Aqua chuckled. "Oh, yeah," she challenged.

V shrugged. "We'll see," he stated.

He and Larxene crashed glasses, and Aqua touched hers to the meeting point.

"Bottoms up!"

+x+x+x+

Ventus wasn't sure, but somehow he managed to get the attention of all three of the girls who had introduced themselves as the Gullwings: Yuna, who loved a good story; Rikku, who would tell it in the time it takes to blink; and Paine, who would probably be swinging the sword that killed the hero. He had also managed to make it back to the counter and get another Coca-Cola on Larxene's tab without skipping a beat with the Gullwings, who were currently diamond-dancing with him.

Well, Rikku was dancing. Yuna was having trouble keeping up with her beat, and Paine was not exactly an active dancer.

Larxene and Aqua were in a far corner, laughing wildly at something V had said. Aqua had already downed three of the drinks she had gone to calling 'Caramel Greaves' and was on halfway through her fourth. V and Larxene were both on their second boiler maker, and both of them had yet to collapse over the counter.

"Well, one thing's for sure," mused V, who was still acting almost sober. "You _do_ know a good time."

"Hell yeah, girl!" Larxene agreed. "You should swing by NeverWas sometime. Addled Impasse, bring a hot tune and wear something sexy, I'll bring Axel and we can party like it's thirty-twelve!"

"Challenge accepted," Aqua mused. She drained her drink again, not even bothering with the constantly growing facial froth, and turned towards the counter, where the hostess was watching them. "Hey, Tifa!" she called. "'Nother Caramel Greave!"

She stumbled back, dropping her glass, and V was maneuverable enough to set down his boiler maker, catch her with one arm, and drag her off her chair with his other. "Slow down," he mused. "You're gonna make it hard to get any aim."

He swiftly leaned in and caught Aqua's lips with his. Aqua didn't hesitate to drunkenly return the kiss, and Larxene cackled, turning away from the makeout session and draining her glass for herself. "Damn, Axel, you're missin' out!" she shouted at the ceiling, sounding almost masculine. "You gotta come with for the next mission, alright, spikey?!"

The hostess, Tifa, had finished mixing the drink and was now clearly hesitant on terms of approaching the table. Ven could tell. Rikku took one glance at his face, followed his gaze in a second, and in another two had ripped forward, grabbed the Caramel Greave, arrived at Larxene's table, set Aqua's drink down, grabbed another Coca-Cola from the counter and showed up at Ven's side. She pulled the half-full can from his hand, hooked the fresh one in it, and drained the drink.

Aqua pulled away from V's kiss, picked up the Caramel Greave on her third try, splashed the froth in his face, and started to drain it. V only wiped the caramel from his face with a victorious smile upon it. Aqua was hardly half-done before she looked at the glass hesitantly. Then she slammed it to the floor with a crash that echoed through the bar.

"Another!" she called.

V laughed, the alchohol hitting him in the face with a vengeance. He looked like he was about to take up the call before the effects accumulated and he collapsed on the bar table. Ven's gaze narrowed. He started towards the table as Larxene swivelled around.

"Aw, come on, V!" she called. "Another!"

"Another!" Aqua agreed, pounding the table as she turned to face Tifa.

Larxene spun with her. "Another!"

"Another!"

The Gullwings were still in trigram around Ventus. "Come on, Ven!" Rikku protested. "You're not leaving already!"

Yuna grabbed his hand. "Don't go, we're just getting started!" Paine had an envious smile on her face as she crossed her arms, gazing at him.

Ven raised his hands defensively. "Girls, I'm sorry, but I really need to go before Aqua drinks any more. Cancel that drink, Tifa!" he added, turning to the counter. Tifa hadn't even picked up the caramel. Ven handed his can to Yuna, dodged Larxene as she tried to run into him, and approached Aqua. Slowly, he caught her hand as she tried to catch her seat and missed by a mile.

Aqua raised her gaze to see Ven there. "Hey, look, it's windy wing!"

"Calm down, Aqua," Ven said quickly and quietly. "The alchohol's impairing your nervous system. Making jokes about me is only go-"

He was cut off as Aqua rushed forward and slammed her lips into his.

Ven stumbled back in horror as Aqua stumbled forward, throwing her arms around him, hands scrambling across his back as she tried to catch his head. He looked towards the Gullwings, his face asking for help. Paine didn't hesitate to step forward and palm the spellweaver in the forehead. The blow sent Aqua tumbling to the floor, hardly conscious.

Larxene now connected with the wall with a loud, and all three of the Gullwings, plus Ven and Tifa, turned in surprise as she fell back and hit the floor.

Aparrently, it _can_ be difficult to hit a wall from the inside.

+x+x+x+

"Paine, choose a lighter hit next time, alright?"

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine had been kind enough to help Ven bring Aqua back to their hotel room. Ven, who had felt three hundred and seventy two percent more awkward digging through Aqua's pockets for the room key than he had dancing with the Gullwings, now turned to the girls. "Thanks for your help," he said honestly.

"No problem," Yuna assured him. "Let us know next time your in town, alright? We'll show you a good time!" Her flirt had none of the sadistic undertone that Larxene's had, and the girls took the moment to pose; Yuna crossed her arms before her, Paine crossed her arms and faced her back to the others, and Rikku popped her hand on her hip and winked at Ven.

"Um... sure," Ven muttured. "I'll... see you around."

The girls stepped out of the room, with Paine setting an envelope on the table next to the door before closing it behind her.

Ven sighed, leaning back against the wall. A suspicious taste of alchohol lingered on his lips, and he wiped it off uncomfortably on his shirt. He glanced at Aqua, who was still out cold and now lying unconscious in the king-sized bed.

Aqua had kissed him.

Damn, was she drunk.

* * *

Draco: Oh, come on, bar scene and you didn't expect me to have some form of noncanonic flirting? Seriously? Really? Really? Advice on portraying the Gullwings and/or Neku would be much appreciated.

...Oh, no, this is VenAqua! Don't get me wrong! When I said noncanonic I was talking about the Gullwings!

{sigh} Screw it. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	12. Uncovered Secrets

Draco: Question, what's the easiest way to obscure swearing? Answer, do it in another language. The Terra of my work is known for having studied several languages in curses and a bit of extra Greek to make it inconspicuous.

Insert copyright shenanagins here

* * *

**Chapter 12: Uncovered Secrets**

With Aqua gone and training suspended, wandering Departure Temple was again Terra's only option for the day. He could have sworn he had looked in every room, every nook and cranny of the temple, but he didn't have anything better to do.

He let his feet go where they wanted to go, and deep in thought, he didn't realize where he was until his forehead slammed into blackfire ebony. Terra stumbled back, gripping his helm. He could swear there was a sliver embedded in his forehead anymore, and as he tried to pry it out he absently glanced at the nameplate.

_Aqua  
__Ventus_

Curiosity is a bitch. Terra hesitated... hesitated... then stepped away.

He didn't even made it two steps before he turned right back around and started forcing the door open.

+x+x+x+

There was a sound like a victim of slave labour.

Aqua took a few moments before she realized that it was her.

Her entire body felt weak. She felt naseous, dehydrated, and could _not_ remember what had happened last night. She remembered finding the hotel, getting a room and collapsing on the bed alongside Ven. Damn, had she and Ven passed out side by side again? She was scared to move.

A hand on her shoulder started shaking her. "Aqua?"

"Ventus?" Aqua murmured, hardly opening her lips.

"Get up," Ven insisted.

Aqua could have sworn her bones creaked like hinges in dire need of oiling as she struggled to obey. Ven's hands caught her arms and carefully brought her to her feet. He tenatively released, but she would have collapsed if he hadn't been fast enough to catch her again.

"Ven?" Aqua whispered - not to keep quiet, but because she couldn't speak in any more than a whisper. "What happened last night?"

"We set down our bags in our hotel room," Ven replied, clearly trying to jog her memory, "and you insisted we go out drinking. We went to the Third District and found Seventh Heaven. You asked Tifa to mix you something with caramel and a kick like a greave. Your words. I was smart enough ask for a cola, but that didn't stop you from making me spend time with the Gullwings."

Aqua shook her head. She remembered none of this or half of the names he mentioned. "Are you sure you weren't just having a bad dream?" she murmured.

"Absolutely not," Ven assured her. "After your fourth Caramel Greave, you ordered a fifth across the bar and fell over. V caught you and dragged you off your chair."

"You know him?"

"That's how he introduced himself," Ven replied. "Then you two started making out with you sitting on the floor."

Aqua jerked herself out of his arms in a shock reaction and would have hit the floor if it weren't for Ven, yet again, catching her swiftly. "You're shitting me," she gasped.

Ven shook his head, nervous. "I'm not," he insisted. "Then I cut you off... and me and the Gullwings brought you back here.

"That didn't happen," Aqua stated firmly. "I know I'd remember that."

Ven tried to calm her down. "Aqua, relax," he insisted. "You weren't yourself. You were drunk."

Tears were seriously starting to well behind Aqua's eyes. "_I wasn't that dunk,_" she insisted.

"You slammed your fifth drink into the floor like a thirsty thunder god and shouted 'Another'."

"Holy shit I was drunk."

+x+x+

Terra wanted to know how Aqua got her door open when she was stumbling out of bed, or writing at her workdesk, or sitting on the floor - but more importantly, he wanted to know how she managed to get a _one-way airitight seal_ on the thing when she wasn't even around.

After a few hours of failed break-in attempts, Terra managed to successfully get the door open by means of jamming his flamberge into a crack between the door and the frame - a crack he only managed to go about by running slips of paper up and down the meeting point. Once he managed to get his flamberge in, it was a relatively simple matter to get his hand, arm, and then body inside, leaving the door propped open with his flamberge.

It would be really comic to say that an angel Terra and a devil Terra showed up on his shoulders and started arguing about why he was here - or, better, that they ended up agreeing by the end of the conversation. It would be really comic to say that his mind was telling his body not to do things and his body was deliberately disobeying with an efficiency that would show up an army trainee. It would be really comic to say that Aqua showed up out the window and that he hid in her massive walk-in closet - and ended up slipping on stray clothes.

The reality? Terra stood in the middle of the room guiltily, swearing at himself under his breath in Greek, Spanish, German, French, Romani, Italian, and Latin in that order, along with the occassional English curse when his multilingual vulgarity slipped up.

Once he had gone through his entire list of curses and thrown in a few repeats for the lulz, he let his gaze wander around the room. He had poked his head in Aqua's rooms a couple of times before, but only now was he actually standing within her quarters, with nothing to do but pay attention. Bookshelves filled with books and a few personal belongings on some of the emptier shelves. A workdesk stacked with papers. An unmade bed. And carvings on the wall - _writings_ on the wall - that cut into the goldstone like pen on paper.

Terra's gaze found itself locked onto one particular wall. Most of the goldstone was still goldstone, just cut into and written upon in places. But one particular writing was marked along the edges.

It was _frosted over_.

"What the..."

"What the...?"

Terra spun around to see a boy standing there as though he had stepped out of the closet. He had spiked black hair that belonged on a mace and golden eyes that shone with shadows. His garments looked like the someone had woven storm clouds, and his skin was moonlight white. Terra should have freaked out.

But the mace was broken, the spikes frayed and bent. The shadows were shining through winter fog. He had a hand on his head, and a few dotted stains on his leggings that looked suspiciously like splashback vomit.

If this was the devil, then it was the devil with a hangover, and Terra was just concerned about not having a dead O.D.'er on his hands.

"Woah," Terra mused. "What happened to you?"

"Um... boiler makers, I think," the boy replied. "The blunette got dragged off while I was out and Larxene was sleepin' dead on the floor when I woke up." An envious grin rose on his face. "That bar girl, though... _damn_. A body like that, and I'd be glad to sit down and tell her all my secrets if it would get her drunk before I hit the floor."

Terra thought back and shuddered. He'd gone through a boiler maker before.

When he opened his eyes, the guy was gone, leaving Terra wondering if that had just been his conscience getting through to him.

+x+x+x+

V stumbled out of the shadowy portal to find himself - thankfully - back in his and Larxene's hotel room. Larxene was still sitting next to the door, half-out. "Any luck?" she asked, supressing a hurl.

"I think that was bluegirl's bedroom," he murmured as she closed the rift. "Other than that... no."

"Damn," Larxene muttered.

+x+x+x+

After getting the image of the boy in black out of his mind, Terra started shifting around the room. The workdesk held nothing of interest - it would seem that it was simply for Aqua to write down what was on her walls before the goldstone renewed itslef. As for the books... well, one might say that Terra could be trusted with the diary of a thousand girls, for under normal circumstances he would never read a book of his own volition.

But the higher levels of a bookshelf near the door were littered with personal belongings, and Terra couldn't help but look over it. One could list the kinds of things that he found there, but only one really caught his eye.

It was the necklace Terra had given her - Persian scripture reading _beauty_.

Slowly, Terra reached out and picked up the necklace. "She left this behind," he murmured.

He glanced out the window. "Aqua..."

Hesitantly, Terra slipped the necklace into his pocket. He turned back to the shelf and looked over the books, thinking that maybe he could find some information as to their purpose. One row of volumes read _Ranged and Area_ on the spines. Another set stated _Distance Projectiles_. A third group declared _Healing and Recovery_, and Terra wondered if they were simply different combat approaches that Aqua was reading up on.

Then he came across the fourth group.

_Advanced Elemental_.

Terra picked up the first book. The velvet cover was soft under his hands, hardly touched, and decorated with multilayered trigram markings. The outermost set had a flame, a lightning bolt, and an ice crystal. The next had a star, a tornado, and what looked like a sundial. Then it was an articulate vortex, a multipanelled wall, and a four-leaved clover. In the center of that trigram was a rather articulate _I_, marking it as the first of the set.

The title was above the design, in Aqua's fluid calligraphy: _Advanced Elemental Arcana_.

A warning was below in the same handwriting: _Not For The Weak Of Mind Or Heart._

The power striker quickly put the book back, his mind in turmoil.

Arcana... That was a word that he had heard Master Eraqus use very sparingly, often in association with some of the legends he had taught. He had once, when Terra had asked for an explanation, described arcana as 'the supernatural, the energial, the power the eye cannot see and the force the flesh cannot match'.

Terra had used the term 'magic' at one point. Eraqus had not corrected him.

Aqua herself had used the term 'arcana' as though she was quite familiar with the subject. Terra remembered speaking with her after one such lesson. "What do you think of this magic stuff?" he had asked her. "Sounds kind of far-fetched, don't you think?"

The blue-haired beauty had turned to him, looked him in the eye, and with the most serious voice Terra had ever heard, stated, "If I told you what I think, you would never sleep."

Terra still had nightmares of her saying that. And now, standing in her room, in front of her shelves, surrounded by writings, his warrior's mind could only come to one conclusion.

Aqua... was a _witch_.

* * *

Draco: Because I'm evil like that.

I'll admit that it I update much too fast to be expecting a review for every chapter, but still. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	13. Second Wing

Draco: If I have to tell you what that title means, then you've read nothing so far.

Insert copyright shenanagins here.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Second Wing**

While Aqua washed up trying to recover, Ventus grabbed his Wingblade and wandered around Traverse Town, familiarizing himself with the area. The First, Second, and Third Districts were all connected - anyone in First could get to Second and Third and vice versa and vice versa. First Distict also had an off-path to several back streets, which led to a plaza with an enormous fountain.

Ven arrived at the Fountain Plaza and gaped. "That's awesome," he mused. He narrowed his gaze. "And screaming 'fast-paced battle'."

He stepped around the fountain and found himself in Fourth District, which was a spiderweb of narrow streets that all led to an area that looked like it was made for having fun. After looking around and finding nothing of interest, he stepped through a large door that led to the Fifth District. Within the Fifth District was a massive building surrounded by a small fountain area. Ankle-deep water completely surrounded the structure, which appeared to be a hanging garden.

It didn't take Ven long to look around the building and find nothing of interest. He stepped into the garden and was quite surprised to find V was standing at the bottom of the structure.

"Come on," he muttered irritably. "Is it really so hard to-"

"V?"

The black-hair turned, swinging his right hand like he was holding a weapon, and was quite surprised to see Ventus standing there. A chuckle emerged from him. "Look who decided to show up," he mused.

"Wow," Ven mused, "you actually _remember_ me? Aqua can't even remember bringing me to Seventh Heaven."

V shrugged. "I had one boiler maker," he mused. "She had four and a half Caramel Greaves."

"Be that as it may," Ven countered, "that's still a lot-"

An absolutely _unnatural_ roar echoed through the gardens. Ven spun around, looking for the source - but it was out of the gardens, not within. He rushed outside.

Below, V only gave a hung-over grin and stepped back under the stairs, where the shadowy portal he had emerged from still waited.

+x+x+x+

Aqua stumbled out of the washroom feeling somewhat better after a long shower. She was able to stand properly by now, and she could see clearly. Ven had been kind enough to leave what appeared to be a small mug of hot chocolate upon the table near the door, and slowly she sat down and picked up the warm beverage, taking a long drink from it.

A letter lying there caught her eye, and she picked it up. There was no stamp, no seal, and no writing upon the envelope. Slowly, she lowered her mug and opened the letter, drawing out what appeared to be a photo. It was an image of three girls posing as though victorious, with a sharp streak of cursive at the bottom right.

_Thanks for a good time!_

The first name, _Yuna_, was in the same handwriting, but the other two, _Rikku_ and _Paine_, were by different hands.

Aqua smiled. These must have been the 'Gullwings' Ven had mentioned.

Thinking about last night, however, didn't let her smile last long.

It was then that a scream of horror echoed across the entire town.

+x+x+x+

That scream was Ventus.

Speed-growing out of the top of the gardens was a tree that was definitely _not there_ before. It was writhing like a wild monster, and as it reached the size of something you'd expect to be guarding a forest, its bark cracked, forming a twisted face upon the front - and its glaring, angry eyes shone bright red.

Then the roots tore out of the roof, and the massive tree leapt at Ventus.

The speed fighter dove out of the way, and his opponent hit the water with enough force to launch a wave. Ven rushed towards the gardens, but without warning the gates slammed shut. Ven was moving too fast to find a nonexistent alternative.

One choice came to mind.

He skidded his feet against the bars, climbing skyward like a Persian prince, and when gravity tried to claw him down he grabbed the bars by hand and flipped skyward. The wave roared higher towards him, and he spun against the gates, faced the ground, and placed his feet against the bars.

Then he drew the Wingblade.

With the most speed he'd ever used in his life, he kicked off the gate, pierced the wave like a needle through fabric, and slammed his weapon into the massive, monstrous tree. The massive plant roared, stumbling back, dropping fruit that exploded like stink bombs, poisonous gas ripping about. Ven leapt away, flipping from feet to hand to a roll on his back as he did his best to escape the noxious smoke.

The tree rushed him again, and Ven leapt into its branches, swinging the Wingblade with enough force to cut any real branches. The slash did in fact raze one hell of a gash in each branch it met, but that only caused the tree to roar in pain, fruit flying, and Ven was sent flying as it leapt into the air. He tumbled off halfway through the creature's leap, landing with a painful roll atop the gardens roof. The tree landed before him and rushed him, attempting to trample him with its roots.

Ven raised the Wingblade above him, and the roots wrapped around it. The sharpened edge cut through them the moment they connected, but that didn't stop them from writhing, striking, cutting into Ven's hand as they died. One weapon wasn't going to be enough - Ven needed another strike before he was going to make any progress.

He willed the Keyblade to appear in his left hand.

What appeared in his left hand was _not_ the Keyblade.

A flare of light shone around his hand, and he lashed out with a sweeping, deadly uppercut, slicing through the roots of the tree like they were warm butter. The tree stumbled back, and Ven rushed forward, lashing out with his right hand, then his left, power rising in his strikes. He arced into a spin, the blade in his right hand whirling into a forehand grip as he lashed out in a whirling slash that knocked the tree to the side.

He spun both blades in hand, driving them into forehand grips and crossing the feathered blades before him to frame his face.

Then he rushed forward, arcing into a double-uppercut leaping slash before whirling the blades over his head and driving them into the point where all the branches met.

The monstrous flora gave a totured scream like a felled forest, and a necrous black flame washed over the creature, burning through bark and branches until Ventus was suspended over a shadowy wisp of fire that burned beneath him.

He dropped three metres and arced into a roll, landing swiftly at the edge of the roof, a Wingblade in either hand.

+x+x+x+

Aqua rushed into the Fifth District to a sight beyond her understanding.

A shadowy flame was burning atop the gardens. The sun was rising in the distance, off to the right, casting a twilight glow over the district. The water was murky, and something menacing was misting in the air, giving the illusion of a wavering dream.

But at the edge of the roof, with the sun rising behind him, was Ventus, panting, straining, his eyes faded with the light of an unbound force - and in each hand was a shining, arced white Wingblade, its feathered surface gleaming, and on either side of his waist was a sheath of shimmering cobalt that matched each blade curve for curve.

Slowly, he turned to face Aqua.

* * *

Draco: And _that_'s how you do it. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah. I'm gonna go play Pokémon Conquest.


	14. Dawn and Dusk

Draco: Well, now... shall we be evil?

Insert copyright shenanagins here.

* * *

**Chapter 14: Dawn and Dusk**

"The second wing..."

Ventus and Aqua had retired to their hotel room. Ven's first Wingblade was sheathed on his waist, and he had the second in his left hand.

"It's strange," Ven mused. "This one... it's definitely different from the other. I didn't notice it when I was fighting, but... it's smaller than the first."

Aqua was surprised. "What? Let me see." Ven drew out his first Wingblade and held them up to each other - the one in his left hand was about half the size and thickness of the one in his right. "You're right," she mused.

"Yeah," Ven admitted. "Didn't that scripture say something about the wings balancing out? Maybe it means it'll match up for size after I use it for a while."

"Maybe," Aqua agreed. Ven sheathed both blades, and the spellweaver sighed, sitting down beside him. "Damn," she murmured, rubbing her temples.

Ven turned to her. "Still a little hung over?" he asked.

Aqua shook her head. "Maybe," she admitted, "but that's not my biggest problem."

"What is?" Ven asked.

"You... I..." She hesitated. "Didn't you say... something... about me and V?"

Ven nodded. "Yeah, you two were making out and you were sitting on the floor."

Aqua winced as he said that. "Are you always so blunt?"

"Sorry," Ven said quickly. "I... alchohol and I have a bad history. The bar at Half Enix is a screaming danger zone. It's true, though," he added. "He dragged you off your chair and you didn't put up a fight when he-."

"I get it," Aqua snapped - but there was a sad undertone to her words. She sighed and turned away, holding her hand to her heart.

She was starting to make Ven concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I..." Aqua's voice cracked and didn't finish.

Ven's eyes widened. "Don't tell me... that was your... first?"

Still facing away, the spellweaver nodded.

That caused Ven to fall silent for a moment. He turned away and leaned back, propping himself up on his arms. "Sorry," he murmured, sounding a lot more like Fujin then he had intended.

"I-It's alright," Aqua replied weakly. "I just... I'm sickened that the first time I kissed a guy... I was drunk out of my mind... I don't even remember it..."

"He kissed you," Ven corrected, bringing himself forward. "You..." He fell quiet and gazed at the floor.

Aqua turned to him. "I... what...?"

Ven's face turned _hoka ma_ crimson. "You... kissed... me."

Those three words ripped a tortured scream that Aqua somewhat succeeded in muffling with her hands. "I... What?!" she gasped.

"M-me and the G-Gullwings headed for you to g-get you out of there before the alchohol made you do something you'd regret," Ven stammered. "I grabbed your hand to stop you from sprawling on the floor and you used the counter-momentum to... lay one on me."

Aqua was seriously starting to break down. "You... you're... you're kidding me..."

Ven winced. "I wish I was," he admitted. "You... were pretty wasted." He gripped his lower lip. "I can still taste alchohol on my mouth."

"I... I... I..." The spellweaver was emotionally deteriorating. "V-Ven... I..."

Ven looked for a timepiece and found a clock hanging on the wall. It was seven o'clock in the morning. Sunrise was still in the workings. "Aqua, you should get some sleep," he insisted. "You passed out at 10 and woke up at midnight."

Aqua shook her head. "V-Ven, I..."

"_Neru_."

The word just came to Ven without warning, and he poured his will into making it take hold. Something beyond nature trembled around Aqua's helm, and though she tried to fight it, her eyelids closed, and she fell back on the bed, asleep.

Ven's eyes widened. "Damn," he muttered, "that was magic."

_Ventus, you're the freaking Seraph_, he told himself. _Your companion is a spellweaver. You're gonna pick up magic sooner or later._

+x+x+x+

Terra was packing.

He had reclaimed his flamberge, locked himself in his chamber, and started digging through the minefield he called his living area. He had something of a backpack propped against the door, open, into which he was throwing everything he would need.

What did that include? Well, first there was the neccessities - food, water, blade repair materials. Then a some more articulate pieces of gear that he figured would be neccessary. Some more sentimental items were thrown in as well, along with a small metal container with a lock, the key to which was slipped into Terra's pocket.

Then he braced his weapon and started out of the temple.

He was heading down the hall to the door when Eraqus' call caught his ear. "Terra!"

Terra spun and started walking backwards to see the Master walking towards him. "Master Eraqus?" he asked, not slowing his pace.

"Where are you going?" Eraqus demanded.

"I was thinking of paying a visit to one of the nearby towns," Terra replied quickly. "Figured I should bring some rations."

Eraqus narrowed his gaze. "Quite a filled pack," he mused, "to be simply rations."

Terra shrugged. "I don't know how long I might be walking," he admitted. "Any advice on what might be a shorter trip?"

"Don't lie to me, Terra," Eraqus stated. "Where are you going?"

The power striker thought for a moment... then he grabbed a small emergency capsule from his belt and threw it to the floor. It was a fast-acting mass-effect smoke pellet - and before long, the entire hall was filled with smoke. Terra raced to the door and kicked it open on his way out before slamming it shut.

Then he dashed down the stairs, drawing his rapier as he went.

+x+x+x+

Aqua opened her eyes.

Why had she been sleeping? She remembered finding Ventus in the Fifth District with two Wingblades. They'd come back to the hotel room and discussed the second wing. Ven had asked if she was still feeling hung over...

It all came back to her - the conversation, the revelation, everything - and Aqua rushed up to a sitting position. She swallowed heavily and tried to calm her breathing.

"If you start panicking again, I'm going to put you back to sleep."

Aqua turned to the wall to see Ven was standing there with the shorter of his Wingblades in hand. He rolled his head on his shoulders and sheathed his blade before stepping towards her. "How do you feel?" he asked.

The spellweaver winced. "Like someone's been ripping me off," she admitted, "and only decided to tell me now."

Ven nodded. "Yeah," he admitted. "I can imagine." He sighed and sat down beside her as she pressed her face into her hands.

There was something of an awkward silence between the two. Aqua broke it.

"Was it your first?"

The question caused Ven to turn. "Huh?"

Aqua turned to face him. "When I... kissed you," she asked. "Was it your first?"

Ven looked away. "Yeah," he murmured.

A light chuckle emerged from Aqua's lips. "Guess we're both still rookies at this, huh," she mused.

"I guess we are," Ven muttered.

Aqua sighed and was quiet for a moment. "If it helps," she added after a while, "you looked pretty hot when I found you with your second wing."

Fire lit up on Ven's face again. "Aqua, don't," he stated.

"What's wrong?" Aqua asked.

Ven turned to face her straight. "Look, you... you said you and Terra were growing close, right?"

Aqua stopped. She now felt somewhat guilty. Granted, she and Terra had never really been _together_, per se, but the thought that she and Ven were acting like this behind his back was really cruel.

"I've seen the way Terra acts when you're involved," Ven continued. "And when he saw me, that first day at the temple, I could _tell_ that he would be seeing me as an obstacle. After we fought that mass of... creatures, and me and you kinda... cut him off in synch - I didn't like the way he looked at me."

"Being the Seraph has its perception, doesn't it?" Aqua mused. She had noticed none of that.

"My _point_," Ven scolded, "is that it's plain smack-dab obvious that you and Terra have something for each other - even if neither of you have admitted it. If you start acting all friendly around me, then sooner or later I'm going to start returning the favour. Before we know it, it's going to get to the point that me and you are going to arrive at Departure Temple hand in hand, and Terra's going to be absolutely _broken_."

Aqua was now _drowning_ in guilt. Ven was right. The drunken kiss was one thing - she had seen some absolutely _wild_ things happen in at a bar, some of which she would _never_ mention out loud - but she was sober and flirting-slash-leaning-on Ventus, and that meant she was basically cheating on Terra.

"I'm sorry, Ven," she murmured.

"Don't apologize to me," Ven stated. "Look, the next time you see Terra, you're going to tell him _straight_ to his face _exactly_ how you feel, got it? And I can guarantee that when he hears you say that, he'll tell you _exactly_ how _he_ feels. Then, the next time you get a free day at Departure Temple, you two are going to spend it together. Got it?"

Aqua nodded. "Got it," she stated.

Ven nodded in approval. "Good." He turned away and arced his back. "That went well," he murmured to himself.

"You say that-" Aqua started.

"I've never told a girl off before," Ven admitted.

+x+x+x+

The two packed their things and started to leave Traverse Town. Ven had grabbed a map from one of the shops while Aqua was asleep, and as they started out of the town, Ven asked, "Where to next?"

"Hold it!"

Ventus spun to see a familiar figure standing there.

Then again, once you've seen a guy in muscle tissue wearing a mask of one-way black glass, you don't simply forget about him next time.

Standing there, with the silver Key in hand, was the masked boy from Departure Temple. His necrous demon sword was dangling from his waist, and from the look of it, it had been used recently.

Ven swore. Aqua stumbled back. Both of them shouted in unison: "You again!"

The masked boy grinned. "Come on," he prompted, "after one round last time, did you really think I'd just give up the ghost?" He braced the Keyblade over his head in his falling-axe battle stance, which told Ven that he, too, had learned to compensate for the added weight. "Hand over the Key or I'll cut you down."

With a flare of necrous light, the gold Key was in Ven's hand. "Not likely," he snapped.

The two rushed each other. The masked boy lashed out with a falling blow, but Ven arced around it, leaving him to strike the earth. He lashed out with a roundhouse swing, but the masked boy leapt over him with a dark skill, spinning as he leapt. Ven spun and arced back as a side sweep lashed out, then raised his Key to meet his foe's when it arced into a spin slash - and a thousand mystic sparks tore between them as they were sent flying.

The masked boy skidded on the ground.

The silver key fumbled out of his hand.

Ven bounced into a backflip.

The gold key caught the earth halfway through.

Both of them glanced at each other for a moment. "These things do _not_ get along," the masked boy said finally.

"I think just clashing any weapon with a Keyblade is the problem," Ven admitted.

"Switch blades?"

"Sounds good."

Both Keyblades vanished from the earth as the warriors got to their feet. Ven drew his right Wingblade first, then arced the left into his hand. The masked boy drew his demon sword and prepared to strike.

"En garde!"

"Alez!"

They rushed each other once again. This time, the masked boy dove into a roll that whirled under Ven's first swing and around his legs, but Ven only spun around and lashed out with the second wing. The strike hit his mask, but that was enough to send him stumbling, allowing Ven to rush forward for a good cut with the right Wingblade.

The masked boy recovered quickly, however, and quickly locked blades with the Seraph. Ven lashed out with his second wing, but his foe's hand lashed out and grabbed Ven's arm, locking close as he tried to force the demon sword past Ven's Wingblade.

"_Kaminari!_"

A bolt of lightning struck down, and the masked boy leapt to the side as the voltage seared an inch past him. The bolt struck the earth a hair's width from Ven's sabaton, and he raised his gaze to Aqua, who had her casting blade in hand, raised skyward.

The masked boy growled. "Stop _doing_ that!" he roared. He snapped the fingers of his empty hand. "Larxene!"

Ven spun to her. "What?"

A flare of darkness formed a shadowy rift across from the masked boy, forming a diamond between him, Aqua, Ventus, and the antenna-haired figure in the black cloak that stepped out, clearly still suffering minor hangover effects.

"You choose now to start a fight with the odds against you," Larxene muttered. She glared at Aqua. "So you're gonna set me on the little girl, huh?"

Aqua raised her blade. "_Kaminari!_"

A volley of voltage ripped from the tip, arced through the air, hit Larxene... and faded.

Larxene smirked. "That's not gonna work," she stated. She raised her left hand before her - and with a flare of thunder there were four knives perched in her her hand, forming claws between her fingers. She arced her hands like a sadistic nymph, revealing another set of four knives in her right hand, and Aqua braced her blade back for casting.

Ven turned back to the masked boy.

There was a surge of light, and suddenly Aqua and Ven were both standing inches from their opponents, blades ready. Ven swung his left Wingblade, causing the masked boy to bring his demon sword across to catch it. Aqua arced her sword into an uppercut, and Larxene swung both sets of knives down to counter the force.

Ven's right Wingblade arced around and struck the masked boy in the shoulder, cutting a large gash in his bodysuit. Aqua whirled her blade and released, twisting Larxene's arms into a helix, before grabbing it by the handle and rushing straight by with a thrust, searing a line across Larxene's side.

The two dark ones leapt; Larxene flew forward, dug the heel of her stilletto into the earth, and spun, hurling her knives at Aqua, while the masked boy leapt backwards before diving forward with a powerful swing.

Aqua caught all four knives in the diamond tip of her sword, and Ven parried the blow with his right wing. He whirled the left to forehand and thrust out, catching the masked boy in the stomach, before leaping away, while Aqua sent the knives to the ground and leapt over Larxene, hurling a burst of fire from the tip that caught the nymph in the stomach.

She and Ven landed back to back, and as her left hand brushed the inside edge of Ven's Wingblade, there was something that passed between Seraph and spellweaver.

Without facing each other, both of them nodded.

Ven drove his right Wingblade into its sheath, and caught Aqua's left hand with his right. She leapt into the air, and he began to spin, his strength keeping Aqua off the ground as she raised her casting blade, launching bursts of ice from the tip.

With the speed Ven was spinning, she was firing only at the masked boy, and Larxene rushed forward, knives flaring back into her hand. Ven saw her coming and, with his left Wingblade still in a forehand grip, he hurled the weapon at Larxene, causing it to sear across one shoulder and send her stumbling back before searing across the other and knocking her to the ground.

Ven caught the Wingblade halfway through the spin. The masked boy was defending against the ice shards, but the shots that missed him arced towards him and hit him from the side, and now, as he failed to defend from a head-on strike, he too hit the ground. Ven raised his spin, bringing Aqua higher and higher before he released, sending her into the air.

She flipped a few metres up with all the grace of a shining star before landing upon Ven's raised hand on one foot, and she raised her casting blade above her, forming a sphere of light from which surges of unbound magic began to fly, striking Larxene and the masked boy with blow upon blow.

Larxene opened a shadowy rift below her feet and fell into it as it closed behind her.

The masked boy vanished in a flare of shadow, taking his demon sword with him.

Aqua ended the cast and flipped so that her hand met Ven's, and he brought her spinning out as he slowed the whirl before setting her down upon her feet beside her. He stepped back once she had touched the ground, his left hand upon his helm.

"Not bad," he mused.

The spellweaver only smiled. "Same to you," she admitted. She angled her head to the side when he stumbled in place. "What's wrong?"

"I was spinning at fifty revolutions per minute," Ven replied.

Aqua chuckled. "Dizzy?"

"Little bit."

* * *

Draco: Damn it! I had to do a Ven-disapproving-of-VenAqua scene! Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	15. Second Wing - Dark Side

Draco: Insert copyright shenanagins here. No, for real this time, there's nothing else.

* * *

**Chapter 15: Second Wing - Dark Side**

Larxene hit the floor fairly hard coming out of the dark rift - known among her and her colleagues as a Corridor of Darkness. The cloak over her body was practically sleeveless from the blows she had taken, the sleeves hanging on by three threads and now as she got to her feet she found herself surrounded by the rest of the mercenaries.

The Superior stepped forward.

"How did it go?"

A flare of lightning caused everyone to step back as Larxene's knives volted into her hand. "You said he was a speed fighter," she snapped. "That his blows held no strength of their own. That his ally was a mancer." She stepped forward with electricity causing the knives to circle her hand before forming a single long line.

"You did _not_ say _anything_ about a _Synch Blader!_"

She raised the line of knives to the Superior's neck.

"Two blades... interesting. He will want to know this."

Larxene's other four knives formed a diamond trap of electromagnetically suspended points around the Superior's "You're client's little _apprentice_ was there," she snapped. "He didn't help matters. He couldn't even defend against a simple snowfall."

"Rapid casting of Blizzard magic is not a simple snowfall," one of the other members reprimanded. Larxene glared at him sideways for a moment.

"He is not a Synch Blader."

The knives fell from around the Superior as Larxene's expression became one of shock. "Excuse me?"

"He began with one weapon. Now he holds two. That is merely an intermediary before he reaches three. Three will then become four, and four become five. In time, he will be wielder of six blades."

Larxene thought for a moment. Then a sadistic grin rose on her face. "If he makes it that far," she mused, sounding like a demon. She turned away as another Corridor of Darkness flared up before her.

"Time to have some fun."

She stepped into the rift, closing it behind her.

+x+x+x+

Ven and Aqua were making their way towards their next destination at something of a slow pace. Ven was still recovering from the rapid-spin technique, and Aqua was kind enough to slow to his speed than make him keep up with hers, telling him that if he walked for a while, it would help his condition.

"Okay, this walk isn't helping," Ven stated. Traverse Town was little more than a speck in the distance. "Can we break for a while?"

"Calm."

The voice caused both of them to turn. Ven suddenly didn't feel so dizzy anymore - although later he would blame the very temporary reprieve on the fact that he had spun counter to his battle technique - and that was good, because standing there was Fujin, without so much as a footstep upon the earth to warn him beforehand.

"Fujin!" Ven stood straight like an army soldier. Aqua nervously followed.

The wind kami shook her head, a small smile rising on her face. "Ease," she insisted. Ven slacked slightly. Aqua followed suit. "Wings?" Fujin asked.

Ven drew the Wingblade from his left side before he drew the one from his right. "Got my second," he replied.

"Good," Fujin confirmed. "Gift."

That caused Ven to step back. "Um... excuse me?" he asked, shocked. "I thought you... were mad at me?"

The kami seemed taken aback by that. "Sorry?"

"I-I mean..." Ven stuttered for a moment. "Fujin, I drew the Keyblade. Don't you... hate me for that?"

Fujin was quiet for a moment. "Not wise," she admitted. She raised her gaze and held out her hand.

Resting in her hand was a small chain. It was but a set of links forged from haous black gold, a clip on one end, forming something of an S because of how it rested in her palm. The chain, however, ended with a token - a pair of silver feathers arced into a tornado formation, a shining emerald suspended in the center.

"Not unworthy," the kami added.

Ven's gaze widened. "That's..."

Slowly, he reached his hand out and took the chain.

"Transform Keyblade," Fujin informed him.

"Um... wow," Ven murmured. He raised his gaze. "Thanks, Fujin."

"Fuu."

Ven was taken aback by that. "Sorry?"

Fujin smiled softly at him. "Can call Fuu."

Then she turned away, fading in a whirl of wind.

+x+x+x+

The masked boy appeared with a flare of darkness in an empty building in Traverse Town. He got to his feet weakly, still frosted from the shower of ice, and grabbed the demon sword.

"Is that what you did? Fight arcana with a physical weapon."

A spin, a slash - but the boy's master stood in the far corner of the room, his hands caught behind his back.

"I gave you that weapon so you could claim the Kingdom Keys. Yet you waste your time with winged quarrels, falling to a disadvantage - and against nothing more than arcana beneath your own."

"You didn't see that witch," the masked boy snapped. "You didn't see the way she cast, magic without element. Supernatural, energial-"

"Power the eye cannot see and force the flesh cannot match. I know what arcana is."

The masked boy was seething. "Then what are you holding back from me?!" he roared.

A single figure flared up on either of his shoulders - the small pseudo-humanoids that had attacked Ventus, that had struck down the neon shadows - the basest allies that the masked boy referred to as Flood.

"Do not try my patience. If you do not show me you can handle what I have given you, then how can I believe that you can handle anything more?"

The masked boy clenched his hands around the demon sword."Then test me," he growled. "End my training with my first wing - and give me the second. He's already got his."

"Because he earned it."

"And you're not giving me a _way_ to earn mine!"

There was silence between master and apprentice for the longest time.

"You cannot defeat him."

A growl. "He's got a reliable ally. I don't."

"And until such time as you do have a reliable ally, you will not be able to defeat him."

The masked boy shook his head. "Not unless you can isolate him properly."

"What about a different foe?"

+x+x+x+

Terra was making his way towards Traverse Town, where Aqua and Ventus had gone. He had hoped that if they were not still there, then at least he could find out where they were headed next. He needed answers - and he was determined to get them.

"Now then, where are you off to?"

The warrior spun. Standing there was a figure in garments that were absolutely _necrous_. Muscle tissue, crafting a formfitting bodysuit with a split kilt dangling from his waist. He had a one-way black glass dome forming a mask, connected to two metal guards that would form a perfect guard were one to try and slap him. He had a sword in his hand - a sheet of black metal cut to resemble a leathery demon wing.

Terra drew his flamberge in an instant. "Who are you?" he demanded, bracing it back in his swing-for-momentum battle grip.

"You have no need to know that," the boy stated. He whirled the blade once in hand and braced it over his head for an earthward strike. "Not when I'm through with you."

The power striker reacted; he rushed forward, swinging his flamberge in a power strike, but the boy stepped around it demonically. He hit the blade with the spiked edge, hooking it around the tip and bringing it into a whirl that nearly pulled it out of Terra's hand. Terra dragged it against his blade, driving the vibrations through his foe's blade, and jabbed it into a thrust.

His opponent blocked it with the flat of his blade, then drilled the blade in hand to clash against Terra's before lashing out with a leaping blow. Terra only dove out of the way before rushing forward in a powerful thrusting dash - but the masked boy only arced around it, flipped backwards, and landed before him as he turned round.

"My turn."

He lashed forward, swinging his blade with a rush that would have cut Terra's arm off if it hadn't struck the gauntlet. It did, however, send him spinning, which the boy used to land a slash across his back and then one across his torso. Terra stumbled back and lashed out with his blade, but the boy only leapt over him before bringing his blade down Terra's spine.

Terra roared with pain, and he hit the ground, leaving the masked boy standing there with his blade stained with blood. He ran his finger along the edge, causing the blood to soak into his battlesuit, but Terra managed to get to his feet. He needed more power to defeat this boy.

Something welled up within him.

Something dark.

Terra drove his flamberge into the ground, and power ripped through him, causing the masked boy to raise his gaze. A flicker of demonic energy raced up his arms, and he lashed out, swinging his fists vehemently. The boy blocked the strikes on the flat of his blade, but Terra only went for a blow to the helm as a distraction, then lashed out with a sweeping kick that knocked him over.

He held his hand out towards his flamberge.

A weapon landed in his hand, and he swung it towards the boy menacingly.

The boy rolled out of the way from the double-edged weapon that had gone for his head, and that was definitely _not_ Terra's flamberge.

It was a thick, somewhat long bronze weapon with a double-edged set of spikes on the tip. A line of something that might have been goldstone razed down the center, stopping when it met the sub-spike hilt. A guard of silver wrapped around his hand, protecting it from a direct disarm. A chain trailed from the base, ending in a rock fragment covered in shards of bronze armour.

Terra glanced at his weapon for a moment before glaring at the boy. The boy shook his head and rushed forward, but Terra only whirled the weapon into a counter blow. Sparks of dark energy ripped across the weapon as the demonwing sword connected, and Terra lashed against the meet, easily sending the blade back and causing the boy to spin to his left.

When he came back around, there was a second demon sword in his foe's left hand.

The masked boy lashed out with both blades, sending Terra skidding back when they hit his weapon in quick succession. He braced the blades; the one in his right hand went back to arcing over his head, and the one in his left was braced before him.

He lowered the swords and huffed. "You... have darkness."

Then he sheathed his left blade at the sheath on his right side and his right blade at the sheath on his left before swinging his right hand out and vanishing in a flare of darkness.

Terra was silent for a long moment... and then glanced at the weapon in his hands.

"What is this...?"

* * *

Draco: What? _What?!_ Did you expect Aqua to be the only one with her signature Keyblade? Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	16. Immortal Business

Draco: Alright, as the chapter title implies, this will be focusing on the kami side of the story rather than Ven and Aqua.

Also, although I distinctly remember the name Balamb Garden as the home of Squall, Seifer, Fujin, Raijin, and Squall's girlfriend - Rinoa, was it? - in Final Fantasy VIII, the area _here_ that is referred to as Balamb Garden is going to be 93.6% non-canonic to the Final Fantasy series because I have not played any Final Fantasy games. However, once glance at an image of the place was enough to tell me it's suitable as a kami residence.

Insert copyright shenanagins here.

* * *

**Chapter 16: Immortal Business**

"Alright, where's our next stop?"

Aqua didn't object to the question. "A coliseum called Olympia," she replied. "It's famous for holding a hell of a lot of battles when it gets the chance."

Ventus raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'gets the chance'?"

"They have a star fighter there," Aqua replied. "I think his name was... Heracles, or something? He's the current reigning champion of _everything_. His trainer hosts the tournaments, and he's determined to make sure his star student doesn't get caught on an off day and lose."

"Typical," Ven murmured. "The guy in charge _always_ wants his representative to be victorious."

"Yeah," Aqua agreed. "I've... seen that a few times." She glanced back at Ven to see he had the charm from Fujin in his hand. "Aren't you going to use that?"

"I was thinking about it," Ven replied. "But... she said it would change the Keyblade. How?"

Aqua shook her head. "It clips on at the base," she replied. "Here, bring it out."

Ven raised an eyebrow, but the flare of necrous gold emerged from his hand as the Keyblade appeared in his backhand grip. He hadn't noticed it before, but there was a small chain connected to a ring at the base of the guard, ending with a three-circle charm. "So... just here?" he asked, tapping the ring.

The spellweaver nodded. "Just clip it on," she confirmed. "Don't take the other one off, first."

That was a suspicious procedure, but Ven hesitantly took the chain that the wind kami had given him and clipped it onto the Keyblade.

With a flare of light, the weapon began to shift. The guard shifted, the handle edging to one side. The shaft shortened, the teeth elongating like someone was stretching them from the tip. The weight altered, and suddenly the Key didn't feel so heavy in his hands.

The light faded.

Ven was now holding a very different Keyblade. It was _designed_ for his backhand grip - a short weapon of dull silver with a dull golden guard that was offset from the shaft, with the handle in the center of that gold.. The teeth were five bars arranged in a wing formation, longer towards the tip and shorter towards the handle. The weapon was little to no heavier than his first Wingblade, and it seemed almost... windly.

"Nice," he mused.

Aqua nodded. "Nice," she agreed.

+x+x+x+

At that moment, Fujin herself was actually active.

She and Raijin were both kami from an area known as Balamb Garden. The place was something of a city that to a mortal would look designed for training hellian warriors. It was in fact a place where its immortals could come and go as they please, and uninvited mortals would be decimated on sight.

It probably helped that the whole thing floated a thousand skyscrapers over Betwixt like an airship.

Fujin was looking around the area for Raijin. She had not seen the thunder kami since they had met Ven, and was curious as to where the muscleheaded immortal would be.

"Wondering where you'd gone."

Fujin spun to see her commander standing there. Seifer had his weapon - a gunblade, with hilt and handle of a firearm and a long sharpened sword edge - dangling in hand. He was a war kami - so long as there was battle, his force would grow.

"Seifer," Fujin said quickly.

"You look tired," he mused. "Did something happen?"

The wind kami reached up and gripped the visual obscured under her hair. Since her contact against Ven's Kingdom Key, her hair had stubbornly refused to stay in place when she turned against it, causing it to drift when she did not desire it to. "Battle," she replied.

"Right," Seifer mused. "Because that _never _ends with an injury."

"Test," Fujin corrected herself. "Seraph."

Seifer nodded. "I've heard," he mused. "You gave that kid the first wing."

"Problem?"

It came out a lot more rudely than the kami had intended. Seifer growled, closing his hand around the grip of his gunblade. "You should have watched him first," he snapped. "You should've made sure he would swing it the right way."

Fujin changed the subject. "Raijin?" she asked.

"He's off throwing lightning around," he mused. "As usual."

"Monsters?"

"Not quite," Seifer replied. "Some hopeless mortal boasting at us that the lightning will never touch him. But he's just making his storms - it's nothing out of his league."

Fujin sighed. "I see." She turned away, careful to move slowly so her hair didn't pass too far, and started off.

"I hear the kid's got a Keyblade."

Seifer's call stopped Fujin in her tracks. His hand was still closed around his gunblade. "The dark Kingdom Key. He won't hold it without a backhand grip. Is that true?"

Fujin was silent a moment. "Correct."

"Then give him a message from me," Seifer replied. "Tell him to start putting his Keys in the right locks." He cocked the handgun of his blade.

"Understood?"

There was a short pause. "Understood," Fujin said finally.

She stepped away, and Seifer smirked menacingly at her back.

+x+x+x+

"Admirably done."

The masked boy only smirked at the words his Master gave from behind him. "You didn't tell me earthstone was gonna grab one," he mused without turning. "So... how'd he get it?"

"There are the faintest of shadows within his heart. Rivalry. Doubt. Fear of rejection. When encountered with your darkness, the shadows began to grow."

"And the shadows gave him what he got," the masked boy mused. "Because that's a failproof strategy."

"His sword acted as something of an intermediary."

"That explains the double edge."

Something hit the back of his mask, and he turned to see a small charm on the ground. It was a small chain of necrous black steel, with a charm on the end. It looked as though someone had taken a gear, cut it in half, and made an S out of the pieces to look cool.

"Really?" he asked, kneeling to pick it up. "You're giving me one?"

"Your second wing had proven you will use it."

The boy smirked. "Yeah," he mused, "well... we'll see how that works."

The silver Keyblade appeared in his hands, and he clipped the chain to the ring at its base.

+x+x+x+

"Where is he?"

Fujin stopped in her tracks for the second time that day. The voice that had caught her back was unfamiliar to her. "Pardon?"

"Don't play dumb with me, kami," the voice snapped. It was that of a stranger, but definitely female. "Where's the boy you gave the wings to?"

The kami in question merely held out her hand. Wind began to whirl around it, and as it started to take form she corrected the questioner, "One wing."

"Yeah, yeah," the voice mused, "and the other just came out of his wrist."

"Correct."

"Bullshit."

That broke it. Fujin spun, throwing her wind wheel, Missile Blade, towards the voice. It belonged to a figure in a black cloak with hair of volt-gold, and as the weapon neared her she swept her hand out. A flurry of sharp gold-and-blue figures flew from her hand, struck the weapon, and knocked it to the ground.

"Hello there," she mused.

The last thing Fujin remembered was the sound of screaming lightning, and a thousand volts piercing her skin as her own scream was torn from her lips.

+x+x+x+

"Well done..."

The masked boy stood there with his demonwing swords in hand. Larxene, who had recognized the blade in Ventus' hand was beyond just carved steel, had been able to trace its source to the floating Balamb Garden. Most mortals would have been assassinated on footstep, but the cloak such as Larxene wore eliminated all presences. From there, it had been easy to find the kami responsible for Ventus' weapon.

And now, lying on the floor before the demon-winged boy, unconscious and volted with lightning, was Fujin.

* * *

Draco: Yes, I'm rapid-firing short-ass chapters, I _know_. But trust me, this is going to get hectic! Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	17. Cloaked Daggers

Draco: Time for a little Key action. Insert copyright shenanagins here.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Cloaked Daggers**

Ventus saw Olympia from a mile away. It was a massive structure of what looked like bronze. Thunderbolt patterns streaked the massive doors, and as they got closer it was apparent there was more within than met the eye.

"Wow," Ven mused when they were at the doors. He, Terra, and Aqua standing on each other's shoulders wouldn't be enough to reach the top.

Aqua nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "Wow."

Ven caught his hands behind his head. "So... what's our job here?"

"This place is known for attracting fighters from all over," Aqua replied. "Not only will it give you a workout that'll do you some good in balancing out your wings, but we might be able to get some info on that masked boy and his partner."

"Larxene," Ven mused.

"That's the one," Aqua confirmed. "Come on, let's head in."

She and Ven both took a door and pushed it open. There was something of an entry court before another, very slightly smaller, pair of doors - over which were crossed the swords of a pair of massive bronze statues.

They crossed the entry court and pushed open the doors.

Inside, they found a short, overweight figure standing there writing up what looked like rules on a nearby board. The strange thing was his legs - they were the legs and hooves of a goat, complete with goat's fur. Ven pulled back, glancing at Aqua. "Um...?"

"Satyr," Aqua explained in a whisper. "They're well known for training and fighting anyone they deem worthy. I think he runs the Coliseum - he must be Heracles' trainer."

"Ah," Ven mused. He stepped up. "Er..."

"Good timing," the satyr mused without turning. "Do me a favour - find me something heavy enough to hold a bar on the doors when I lock up, alright?"

Ven blinked. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"Some yahoo came in last night and busted half of our trainin' supplies," the satyr explained, finishing up something on the bottom row of the board. "We're gonna need a tighter barrier in here," he added, starting to turn, "and..." He was facing above Ven's head, and lowered his gaze to see the speed fighter standing there. "And who are you, exactly?"

"Ventus," Ven replied. "This is Aqua. We heard this place held a good competition or two and we were hoping to participate."

"Oh, is that right?" the satyr mused. He leapt down. "And you think you can just jump in and participate, eh? Is that what you think?"

Ven stepped back. "Um... is that really neccessary?"

A sigh. "Look, it's like this. This place is the big name - the world-famous Coliseum, heroes coming from all over and dukin' it out in an arena about twice the size of this room." He gave the area a quick sweep. "Give or take a few feet in every direction. Crowds the size of Olympus, and blades clashing everywhere. If I let in a skinny shrimp and a lass and they get busted down easy, it makes everyone look bad."

Aqua shook her head. "It's not..."

"You want in?" the satyr demanded. "Then you're gonna have to show me how well you can fight."

Ven was about to protest when something caught his mind; he spun, and floored himself as a line of eight gold-and-cobalt knives flew over his helm and into the Coliseum. Aqua whirled in his direction to see a familiar figure in a black cloak step inside, electricity flickering over her fingers.

"Larxene!" Ven snapped.

The nymph only chuckled. "Look at that," she mused. "I come in looking for a few rounds of fun, and who else should be here but wingless and bluegirl."

She snapped her fingers, and the knives flew back in. Ven spun, raising his hands before him - but the moment the first knife struck him, an electromagnetic explosion hit him, sending him flying. Aqua rushed to grab him, but another knife caught her in the back, landing the same explosion.

Both of them were sent flying into the entry court. Ven rolled to his feet quick and managed to catch Aqua before she hit the ground, prying the knife out of her back and letting it fall to the ground as she stayed on her feet. He drew the other knife out of his arm as Larxene stepped back out, with voltage flaring around her hands.

It was then that a necrous rift opened in the doorway, and someone else stepped out of it.

"Hello!"

He was wearing the same black cloak as Larxene wore, but without the stilletto heels. He was also lankier, and he had crimson hair like a falling meteor. Larxene spun to face him and glared.

"What do you want, fireboy?" she demanded.

The 'fireboy' smirked. "No hogging the hero!" he called.

Larxene sighed. "I suppose _you_ want a round with him?" she asked.

"Well, you and blackwing didn't seem to fight too well," the meteor-head mused, "and waterwash doesn't exactly make an easy secondary. Maybe a two on two, and I can lend you a hand?"

A snicker from the sadist. "Alright, better," she mused, turning back to face Ven and Aqua. Electricity volted around her hands as the newcomer stepped up.

"My show now, lovebirds," he mused. "Who am I? Oh, the name's Axel." He tapped his forehead tauntingly. "Got it memorized?"

"Um... okay..." Ven replied. Aqua braced her casting sword in her spellweaver battle stance.

"Good," Axel called. "Well then, Ventus, now that we're getting to know each other better..."

Fire whirled into rings around his hands, searing with unnatural heat as he arced his hands to the sides - and the flame solidified into fire wheels of shining steel and flaring crimson as his hair began to spark.

"Don't you go off and die on me, now!"

Ven reached for his belt.

The wings weren't there.

_His Wingblades weren't there!_

Axel and Larxene rushed forward, but Aqua raised a barrier of reflective crystals as Ven, with no other options, formed his Keyblade in hand. The light, backhand weapon flared into his hand, and he rushed forward as the barrier faded, swinging the Key in a flurry of blows. Unfortunately, Axel's fire wheels made him a much better parry than Larxene's knives, and half of the strikes were blocked.

Larxene rushed for him, but Aqua rushed up and caught the knives on the diamond tip of her weapon. She whirled it in hand, knocking one set to the ground, then went for a stab that caused Larxene to leap over her. That resulted in her landing on one of Axel's fire wheels as he raised it for a strike, and she flipped off, hurling her other set of knives at Ventus.

Ven leapt away from the double-edged blow, causing Larxene's knives to embed in the earth and Axel's fire wheel to swing at nothing, and he and Aqua dashed forward, swinging their blades in crazy tandem, catching blows, striking out, sometimes even landing twin strikes and sending their foes flying.

Before the speed fighter knew what he was doing, he had Axel on the ground, and his was in a forehand grip, levelled on Axel's neck.

Aqua's scream caused Ven to turn, not moving his Keyblade, to see Larxene had trapped her in a sphere of voltage. The spellweaver tried to raise a barrier, but the electricity was too much for her to cast through, and Larxene was grinning wildly like a demon.

Ven growled and raised the Keyblade at Larxene.

"_Hoka ma!_"

A burst of fire lashed forward and nailed the sadist in the chest, knocking her back, but Aqua was still trapped in the voltage. A flare of wind ripped around Ven's Keyblade, and he threw it towards Aqua, pulling her through the electricity. He willed the wind to set her down slowly before turning to the two cloaks and bracing his Keyblade in battle grip.

Axel smirked. "Not bad, wingboy. Guess you can fight wingless."

"You know what happened to my blades?" Ven demanded.

"Maybe," Axel taunted. A flare of darkness ripped up behind him. "Come on, Larxene, let's ditch this hightail stand."

Larxene glared at Ven, but only chased after Axel as they stepped into the rift.

Ven sighed as the two vanished, but turned to Aqua. She managed to get to her feet for a moment, but she would have fallen again if he hadn't rushed up and caught her. "Careful, there," he insisted.

"I'll be fine," she murmured. She turned to Ven. "You're... learning arcana."

"I think my _Key_ is learning arcana," he admitted. "The Wingblades won't cooperate when I try."

Aqua nodded. "They'll learn soon enough," she promised. "The third wing: _flame, thunder, and frost_. I think it means you'll be using arcana when you have three."

The two of them were silent for a moment. Then Ven released Aqua.

"Those two know where my wings went," he stated. "Larxene, and... Axel, was it? They know something to do with my missing wings."

Aqua was quiet. "We'd better find them."

+x+x+x+

Finding Axel and Larxene was easier said than done.

At that moment, the two of them were consulting the masked boy, who was in a deep underground area. Fujin was currently chained by painful black magic that bound her open to the wall, and the masked boy had one of his demonwing blades in hand as the two spoke.

"It worked," Larxene confirmed. "He's wingless."

"Good," the boy mused. He pointed the blade at Axel. "Master didn't say you had a boyfriend," he stated, speaking to Larxene.

The sadist only chuckled. "Please," she insisted, "He's just here for the ride."

The masked boy shrugged. "Say what you will," he mused. "But I don't trust those wheels of his."

"Does it _matter_?" Larxene asked. "He's handy in a fight, that's all that counts."

A huff. "Well, now... we'll see about that." He turned towards Fujin. "So?" he mused. "How're you holding up?"

"RAGE," the kami snapped.

The demon sword was raised to her visible eye. "You will watch your tone," he commanded. "I have more than enough power to make you plea for mercy."

Fujin only glared.

+x+x+x+

Aqua and Ventus recieved from directions from the more or less shocked satyr, leading them to a town not far from the Coliseum.

The same time they were out of sight, Terra had approached the Coliseum. He had recieved information that both absentia from Departure Temple had been seen heading in this direction, and after managing to get one of the doors open, he stepped inside with his new weapon on his back - although it didn't fit in his old blade's sheath, it did catch well when he hooked the handguard around it.

"They were here," he murmured. "Or else they're on their way here. But where are they now?"

"Looking for someone?"

Terra turned to see a large figure standing there. He had skin that was a very necrous blue colour, and hair styled like burning blue fire. He was clad in a long, billowing black robe, and his eyes seemed to almost glow.

"Um... yeah," Terra replied. "More or less. Have you seen a girl with blue hair in this area?"

The figure thought for a moment. "Odd clothes, useless armour pieces, bent sword?"

Terra narrowed his gaze. "Not a nice way to describe it," he murmured, "but, yeah."

"Never seen her." He turned and stepped towards the doors.

Terra narrowed his gaze. "Spurius." He glanced around, and his voice dropped to a desprate whisper. "Aqua... Where are you?" His hand fell aside his pocket, where the necklace lay for him to give it to her.

"Aqua? Is that bluegirl's name?"

The voice caused Terra to whirl around, reaching for his back, but there was no one there. His eyes flickered from left to right, looking for the source of the voice.

A finger tapped the weapon on his back. "You're doing it wrong, by the way."

Terra grabbed his blade and spun round, aiming to strike, but whoever had touched him was gone. He braced it behind him in his momentum-power stance, ready to swing at a moment's notice.

"I'm sorry, you got a good hit when it lands, but you swing way too slow."

The power striker arced into a spin; then, when no one was there, he continued into a spinning slash - but his foe still didn't get hit.

A hand caught the shaft of his weapon. "Oh, come on. Did you really think that would work?"

It was then that Terra, without moving his weapon, lashed his foot back, connecting solidly with the most sensitive part of a human male body, and he arced away, stepping back to see a masked figure standing there with his hands pressed against the wound.

"Right in the dual core," he murmured.

"You!" Terra snapped. "You're that boy from the plains!"

A chuckle. "Figured that one out, did you?"

Terra gave the masked boy a deadly wolf glare.

The masked boy stepped forward. "You tryin' to scare me?"

The power striker lashed out, but the boy drew the blade on his right side in his left hand and slashed out to counter the blow. Terra arced into a spin, but his opponent grabbed the sword on his left side in his right hand and hooked it between the spikes at the tip. He caught the other on the opposite side so Terra wouldn't be able to pull his blade away because of how the demonwing swords were designed.

Then he caught both weapons in his left hand, forming a vice-grip, before holding out his left hand.

With a flare of darkness, a weapon appeared in it. Around his hand, it looked like a large gear with a hollow to hold the handle, and a blade protruding from one gap between gear-prongs. That blade met another, smaller gear, as did an identical blade from the opposite side; and that blade emerged from a large, sharpened, fragmented gear to form a deadly weapon.

He raised that weapon towards Terra - and necrous lightning began to spark around its teeth.

"You have darkness."

Then he brought it back and jabbed it at Terra's stomach, and voltage ripped across Terra as he passed out.

+x+x+x+

Aqua and Ventus were halfway to the destination that the satyr had given them when someone nearby called out; "Hey, speedy, we still on for tonight?"

Ven spun, calling his Keyblade to hand, as he caught sight of Larxene leaning against the tree, turning a knife in hand. This tree had twisted branches without leaves, forming a perfect recline for someone above; but there was no one there, and Ven focused on the sadistic problem that was reclined against its trunk.

"Alright, talk," Ven snapped. "You know something about what happened to my wings!"

Larxene only smirked. "Alright, let's assume I do," she taunted. "I have no reason to tell you. And besides, wind girl has given me reason enough not to trust those things."

Ven was confused at that. "Wind girl?" His eyes widened in realization. "Wait, Fujin! What'd you do to Fujin!"

The sadist flipped her knife in hand like a coin. "Catch me," she taunted, "and I'll tell you what I know." She caught the weapon by the blade and took off running.

"Get back here!" Ven braced his Key behind him and chased after her.

Aqua was about to follow suit when a voice above her called, "And what are we up to?"

The spellweaver stopped, spun, and gasped when she saw who leaning back in the tree. With a swift move, he grabbed the branch, dropped down, and raised his hand as a blaze whirled around it, forming a fire wheel.

"Axel!"

"Come on," he taunted, dangling the wheel in hand, "after an introduction like that, you didn't think I'd give up oh so easily?"

Aqua narrowed her gaze. "You and Larxene know something about what happened to Ven's Wingblades," she protested. "Tell me."

Axel pulled back in false shock. "What, he's 'Ven' for you? Larx told me you were taken."

"His words," Aqua stated, ignoring the jab.

"Well, then," Axel mused, "I guess I haven't got a choice." He turned to face her head-on, catching his weapon firmly. "Hey, blackout!"

A flare of shadows cause Aqua to spin, seeing the masked boy standing there. His dark wings were missing from his belt, and his Keyblade wasn't in his hand; but there was a cord tied around his left hand, connected to something clenched in his palm.

Aqua narrowed her gaze. "What do you want?"

A smirk emerged from the masked boy. "Fujin is within my captivity. I'm willing to take you to her right here, right now."

"What's the terms?" Aqua demanded.

The masked boy pointed at Axel. "Meteor, here, wants to fight the fake angel with thunder-bug and you're not allowed to interfere. Will that be acceptable?"

Aqua kept her eyes on him for the longest time. "How about a challenge?" she prompted. "Axel and I fight to disarm. One-on-one. If he wins, he's allowed to fight Ven with Larxene, and I'm not allowed to join in. If I win, I'm allowed to help out."

"Your call, spike."

Axel chuckled. "Are you a gambler, Aqua?"

Aqua turned to him. "I am confident in my abilities - and unless that fight in Olympia was the best you could do, I have yet to see the extent of yours."

"Fair enough," Axel admitted. "Sorry, I'm not about to spill all my party tricks." He thought a moment. "How about..."

The masked boy cut in. "You are not starting a game of Command Board in the middle of Betwixt when you're supposed to be helping me keep Fujin captive."

"Damn," Axel murmured.

Aqua shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't have time for this." She turned to the masked boy. "I refuse your offer on the grounds that we cannot meet an agreement. Allow me to pass."

It was then that a ring of fire ripped out of the ground, forming a battlefield that trapped Aqua in the vicinity of Axel and his obscured ally.

"Not an option."

The masked boy raised his right hand, and a flare of shadowy force tinged bloodred emerged from it. Aqua recognized the core shape of a Keyblade; but its multigeared, bladed appearance told Aqua that like Ven, this boy had claimed a chain to change his weapon.

Aqua narrowed her gaze.

A swirl of ocean arcana coursed from her hand, spreading petals of rose light, and her fingers closed around the handle of her diamond-tipped casting blade.

"En guarde!"

"Alez!"

"That's more like it!"

+x+x+x+

Larxene ran fast. Ven dug his heels in, but just as it seemed he was close enough to catch her she would spark with lightning, racing out of reach. She wasn't exactly losing his trail, however; she tried arcing around trees, changing directions without warning, even leaping over Ventus and dashing in the other direction, but Ven whirled around obstructions, arced towards her new target, and stopped on a dime, nearly catching her upon landing.

Eventually, the sadist dove into a cave.

Ven skidded to a stop, panting, at the entrance. It had been a long time since he'd run for that long. The cave was suspiciously dark, and the occassional echoing drip sounded from deep within, but Ven figured if he kept focused, there would be no problem in making his way through.

He stopped himself from going in. _This has gotta be a trap,_ he thought. _She's luring me in here to kill me._

He nearly turned away, looking around for where Aqua might be, when he realized; _What if Fujin's in here, and Larxene came to check up on the security?_

The Seraph glanced at his hands. This was two evils, and he couldn't exactly risk the flip of a coin. If Fujin wasn't here, and he went in, Larxene would kill him - or worse, torture him until Aqua arrived, and then kill them both. But if Fujin was here, and Ven left, who _knew_ what Larxene would do to her?

There had to be _some_ way he could find out.

Ven closed his eyes and reached out with his heart.

_Fujin... Fuu! Answer me!_

+x+x+x+

Whoever that masked boy was, he knew how to bind a lock.

Fujin figured that with not Axel, nor Larxene, nor the masked boy around, she might be able to break loose. No such luck. She had loosed every magic she had, trying to get free, but all she had succeeded in doing was scarring a lot of rock. Her hair had yet refused to stay in place, and now she was trapped there, bound open, both eyes clean visible.

She closed her eyes, reaching for anyone who might be nearby.

_Fujin... Fuu! Answer me!_

The wind kami was shocked at the voice that hit her mind with a lot of force. At first she was on her guard - until she realized she recognized the voice. _Ventus!_

_Fuu? I reached you! How the hell does that work...? Look, where are you? I need to know!_

Fujin glanced around. _Cave,_ she murmured. _Deep._

_But where's the cave?_ Ven prompted._ Do you know where I am? Am I close?_

_Close? Quiet..._ She closed her eyes, reaching out for his location. _Above! Entrance!_

_Great!_ Ven exclaimed. _I'm coming in, alright?_

The wind kami shook her head, realized that was pointless, and quickly insisted, _Wait! Hostage. Trap._

She heard was sounded like a curse in Persian on the other end. _Fuu, I can't leave you here! Larxene's coming in!_

_Not worry,_ Fujin insisted. _Run!_

_I..._ Ven saw there was no point in arguing. _Alright. Be careful!_

Fujin chuckled briefly. _Not worry_, she said again. _Handle._

It was then that Larxene walked in, knives in hand, and Fujin turned away so that her hair covered her wounded eye. "So, wind girl, how have you been?" she prompted. "Hope you're looking forward to meeting your little hero."

The wind kami smiled. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Larxene asked. "What nothing? Use more than one word, why don't you."

"Not coming," Fujin elaborated.

Larxene narrowed her eyes. "Of course he's coming," she countered. "He was going at fifty clicks when I came in."

Fujin shook her head slightly, not facing Larxene. "Turn around."

The sadist looked behind her before realizing that the kami was talking about Ven. "Why would he turn around?" Larxene asked.

"Me."

"What are you..." Larxene stopped. "Damn you and your godly magic!" She spun on her heel and threw her hand up, causing a Corridor of Darkness to open. She raced into it, causing it to rapidly close.

The wind kami now had a decidedly clever grin on her face.

+x+x+x+

Ventus ran in a straight line chosen by instinct until he saw Olympia in one direction and a ring of fire in the other.

He dashed towards the fire with an ominous feeling. When he neared the flames, he was able to see through them Aqua cornered against the tree. Axel was ready in one direction, fire wheels in hand, and in the other was the masked boy. He had a weapon in hand that _looked_ like a Keyblade - but he had to have changed it like Ven did, becuase that was not the silver Key that Ven knew; it was _geared_, and it was dark.

Ven's own Keyblade appeared in his hand, and with a swift drift he leapt over the flames as Aqua's foes rushed her. Aqua swept her casting blade back as a sphere of crystalline arcana formed around her, but Axel and the masked boy met the barrier with no recoil.

No one knew how long the clash would have lasted if Ven hadn't grabbed a branch of the tree, arced around it, and kicked Axel away before whirling over and sending the masked boy flying back.

Aqua lowered her barrier as Ven landed, and the two stood back-to-back as their opponents stood there; Ven facing fire wheels, and Aqua the dark Key.

"Oh, look," Axel taunted. "They're right close, now, aren't they?"

The masked boy sighed, raising his geared Key over his head. "She's taken," he reprimanded, "and he's out-of-her-league-in-the-making."

Ven and Aqua both turned fiery crimson.

Axel laughed. "Oh, come on," he taunted, "would you give me the joke? They're definitely reacting, no?"

"I suppose," the masked boy mused. "Doesn't change their position."

The backhander angled his gaze over his shoulder as the spellweaver did the same.

"Aqua?"

"Yeah?"

"What was that one cast that was spinning poles?"

"The one I knocked you out with?"

"That's the one."

"Pearl."

"Right."

"You need the call?"

"I think I got it."

Both of them surged their left hands toward.

"_Hikari!_"

A sphere of white energy emerged from each cast, flying towards their opponents. Axel and the masked boy both yelped as the arcana flew towards each of them, arced around the guards they tried to raise, and slammed into their sides, tumbling them to the ground.

"What next?"

"I was thinking you should choose.

"Maybe the shower?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Alright."

Both raised their weapons to the sky.

"_Kaminari!_"

Twin bolts flared down around them, leaving the masked boy and Axel scrambling to defend themselves. When the strikes did land, however, Axel was definitely under better cover; muscle tissue made the holder of the silver Key the most conductive surface from the tree to Olympia.

"You got an idea?"

"Let's break the doublecast."

"I got some kinda breeze."

"It's getting a little warm."

It was then that Ven and Aqua spun towards each other, landing as though to strike one another; but they simply rushed forward, hooking their arms together as magic began to flare in their weapons.

"_Kaze!_"

"_Mizu!_"

A flare of wind whipped up around the two fighters, sending the flames practically horizontal as water surged from beneath them. The two began to spin as the gust and the liquid formed a hurricane that not fire wheels nor geared Keyblade could pierce.

Then they arced past each other and locked weapons.

The hurricane erupted, a flood ripping across the battlefield. The masked boy and Axel were both sent drifting across the earth as the flames extinguished on contact, and Ven and Aqua landed smoothly as their opponents tried to get up - Axel having inarguably more trouble.

Ven whirled his Keyblade to a forehand grip and raised it towards the masked boy.

"Release the wind kami..."

Aqua met him back-to-back, switched her casting blade to her left hand, and did the same.

"...Or else."

The masked boy chuckled. "What," he taunted, "you side yourself with the fake angel and don't even care for your little boyfriend?"

A tremor rushed through Aqua.

Her casting blade fell to the ground.

Ven's eyes widened. "You..."

Their opponent raised his empty hand - except it wasn't empty. Dangling from his open fingers was a familiar charm - a simple leather string that looped over a knot, a word of Persian scripture as the charm. "So you are taken," he mused. "That's a pity."

He tossed the charm at Aqua, who caught it fumblingly between two hands.

When they turned back to the masked boy, he was gone.

* * *

Draco: Longest chapter yet, easy. Sorry for the delay. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	18. Railslide

Draco: More views aside from Aqua and Ven! Insert copyright shenanagins here.

* * *

**Chapter 18: Railslide**

The masked boy stepped into the cave where Fujin was captive. The kami was still there - Larxene was not.

"Where's the thunder bug?" he prompted.

Fujin's response was cold and solid, her gaze sideways to obscure the eye that was usually covered. "LEFT."

Her captor growled. "She's going after that backhander, isn't she," he murmured. "Sadist. She won't listen. And where's my damn wings?" He scrambled at his belt irritably. "No sooner am I off to fight him wingless than I can't claim anything more. Double-crossing bastard."

"Watch your tone."

The ancient voice caused Fujin to turn, her hair drifting over one eye. The masked boy also turned to see a familiar elder standing in the shadows, hands caught behind his back.

"Master!" the boy exclaimed. "I wasn't referring to you," he insisted. "I was talking about-"

"I know who you were referring to. However, you would still be wise to be mindful of your tone. Or are you threatening to disobey me?"

The masked boy fell quiet before lowering his gaze. "No, Master."

The elder turned away, and shadow flared before him, forming a tunnel rift of darkness.

"We have been provided with a safer captivity. Bind Fujin appropriately and come with me."

Fujin was still staring at him, wordless - and that was considering her one-word policy. The masked boy had proven himself violent, dark, and unruly. His dark wings were powerful to the point that Fujin had no qualms in her mind that he made a worthy foe for Ventus. The Kingdom Keys were dangerous to clash against, particularily with each other, but with a chain on either weapon she had reason to believe that Ventus may in fact be at a disadvantage if the masked boy chose to clash Keys.

Yet here he was, and this elder, this necrous _maiorus_, had him under unquestioned rule.

Chains of pure shadow wrapped around her, pulling her from the wall, as the masked boy followed his master into the Corridor of Darkness.

+x+x+x+

Larxene was surprised when the Corridor of Darkness she opened took her not to the cave entrance, nor to Ventus' location - but instead to a concealed room in the castle where she and her allies took residence.

"What...?"

"Oh, good, I'm not alone."

Larxene turned to see a cloaked figure with a familiar meteor hairstyle leaning against the wall. Axel had his arms crossed, and he looked surprisingly bored - despite the fact that there was water dripping from his hair.

The sadist sighed irritably. "What are you doing here? Hell, what am _I_ doing here?"

"I redirected your Corridor and brought you here."

Larxene spun to see her Superior standing across from Axel. A horrifying thought crossed her mind. "Don't tell me you two are working together on this."

Axel shook his head. "It's not punishment, Larxene," he insisted. "We're being relocated. Ventus is out of our reach. Our customer buddy's prisoner is being put somewhere else, and we gotta be there for the big show."

"Show? Seriously?" Larxene rounded on him again. "You act like this is some kind of performance."

"I know that it's gonna be a fun time," Axel admitted. "We're calling those two in as backup. No doubt this oughta be fun."

Larxene was surprised at that. "Seriously?" she prompted. "And with the masked kid outmatching Ventus three blades to one..." A grin rose on Larxene's face. "Oh, this is going to be good." She spun back to the Superior. "So where's our new place?"

"I am not sure."

The Superior turned away, forming a Corridor of Darkness before him - the only way in or out of the room.

"All he would tell me was that it was provided... by kami."

+x+x+x+

The masked boy's master took him and Fujin through a chain of dark rifts. Fujin was surprised at first to find herself emerging from one rift only to be before another, but after a couple more she realized two possibilities; either their target destination was too far for one rift to cross, or they wanted to prevent her from knowing where they were keeping her. Strangely enough, she hoped it was the latter; a distant captivity was a horrific thought. Ventus would be kept without his Wingblades if she was kept prisoner and out of reach.

After passing through the ninth rift, the masked boy had come to a stop in a forest, looking as though he was trying to hold something back. He emit a sound like somebody trying to resist spitting out something he dislikes; then, without a word, he raced off into the bushes, and the chains around Fujin vanished as his mask was thrown to her.

She was unsure what to say until vomitile sounds emerged from the bushes. She didn't blame him - darkness made her feel ill, too, though not to the same extent.

Knowing escape would be futile, she simply stood there with the glass in hand until the boy called weakly, "Throw the mask here," upon which point she tossed the mask towards him. He stepped back into view with a decidedly more steady stance - and the chains of darkness wrapped back around Fujin. "Hope there's not many more," he murmured.

Fujin nodded. If there were too many more, she'd be joining him next time.

The rifts had led her through various natural terrain, but this last rift took her to a closed room of solid metal. Larxene and Axel were standing there, and nearby were two more figures in the same jet-black cloaks, their hoods up. Unlike the other two, however, these two wore completely identical garments. There were only two differences; one of them had a figure that defined a female, and her shoes were slightly raised heels; her ally, however, had what looked like black street shoes.

The masked boy's master was in the shadows once again, and his elder voice emerged into the room.

"Bind her."

The chains of darkness vanished from around Fujin, but Axel swept his hand, and a heated gale caught her, throwing her against the wall. Larxene crossed her hands over her chest, revealing her knives caught between her fingers like claws; and she hurled them all towards her in a cross swing. Each knife split into triple bolts of lightning that seared towards Fujin, pinning her to the wall by the edges of her garments, with her limbs splayed open. The moment each bolt struck, it solidified into a blade - twenty-four knives of volt-gold and electric blue, driven in to the grip.

The hooded girl stepped forward. "I'm going to make something relatively clear," she prompted. "If you try to break free, if you threaten to escape, if you have to take the entire room with you as you leave..."

She swung down her left hand

Her ally swung down his right.

Twin surges of light and shadow burst from them, joining their hands with a menacing χ between the two cloaks.

Light flowed from the girl's hand, forming twin shafts like _Souba_, until one shaft arced into a heart.

Shadow flowed from her ally's hand, forming a single shaft like _Masamune_, leaving a hollow in the blade.

Then darkness tore across that hollow like a velvet nightmare, and surges emerged at the tips like a dual hound.

_Hikari_.

_Yami_.

The two raised their Keys towards Fujin.

Wings of angel closed around the girl's left hand.

Wings of demon closed around her ally's right.

Shining voltage arced between their weapons - golden arcana of lightning, arcing between the two blades.

"Thirteen thousand volts of pure, unadulterated _Thundagun_," the girl finished. "Am I understood?"

Fujin was quiet for the longest moment, her eyes wide... and slowly, she nodded.

"Good."

She and her ally lowered her weapons, fading them, and they turned towards the rift. It vanished, revealing a gap in the wall, and Axel and Larxene stepped through it. The hooded cloaks followed, and the moment they were across a solid plate of steel dropped down, sealing the room.

The masked boy's master had vanished in the commotion, and now the boy himself loosed an irritable growl. There was silence for a long moment; then he turned towards the kami.

"You know," he prompted, "the room is soundproof, so if you're going to swear my ass off and keep it off your permanent record, now is an excellent time to do it."

Fujin only glared.

Her captor shrugged. "Suit yourself." He turned away and vanished in a flare of darkness.

+x+x+x+

"You pulled that off rather well."

The cloaked girl laughed at the observation. The room that the wind kami was being kept in was in a secluded area of what appeared to be a foretress complex of some sort, but the two of them managed to keep themselves calm regardless. "Really?" she prompted. "How so?"

Her partner shrugged. "I just didn't think you'd be able to threaten her so... fluently," he admitted. "I expected hesitation, or at least a little waver in your voice."

"Are you insulting me?" she prompted, turning to him.

"Of course not!" he insisted, raising his hand in defense. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

The girl sighed. "I suppose you could have done it better?"

In response, her partner beat his chest once and cleared his throat with a light cough, as though he were preparing to give a speech. This earned him a fit of giggles from his partneruntil he spoke.

"In case it's not clear..." His voice had darkened severely, causing the girl to grow wary. "If you try to _escape_ - if you so much as _blow_ on those knives..."

He flared his right hand down, and a surge of darkness caused the black Key to surge into his hand. The girl reacted by reaching as though to call her own Key to hand, but before the lightest glow had risen her partner had the dark kanji raised to her neck, sparking with the same golden magic as before.

His eyes began to shine gold under his hood. "_Thirteen thousand volts straight through in a pair of Keys._"

The girl's eyes were wide, her breathing faint.

The boy pulled back, lowered his Key, and the thunder around the teeth dispersed as he faded his weapon. "I'm sorry, I... I took that overboard."

"It... it's okay," his partner insisted. "It's alright."

"It's not alright," he murmured, turning away. "My eyes went gold again, didn't they?"

The girl nodded weakly, unsure whether to say anything.

He growled, pounding the wall behind him. "I've got to stop this. I can't..."

"_Rokusasu..._"

The way she said his name - the light, affectionate Japanese tone - it calmed his anger. He turned towards her. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she insisted. "It's alright."

He smiled softly. "Thanks, _Shi-oh,_" he replied, using the same soft tone.

"Hey, Keyslingers!"

Both of them turned to see Larxene standing on a ledge nearby. "We need you in two seperate locations," she stated. "One of you sit here and keep the kami company. The other needs to come and deal with our other prisoner."

"Another prisoner?" the two asked at the same time. They turned towards each other.

"You go, _Rokusasu._ I'll stay here and handle her."

"Alright. Be careful, _Shi-oh_."

The boy with the dark Key turned and leapt towards Larxene, who smirked as she vanished without a trace, reappearing atop a different ledge. He growled, turning towards her. "Not fair!" he snapped. "You know I still can't do that!"

The girl with the light Key sighed as the others left.

"He's never going to leave us alone," she murmured. "Even if we have proven ourselves."

+x+x+x+

The other prisoner was Terra. He was unconscious, lying upon a trap with clasps around his arms and legs. The masked boy was currently there.

"He has darkness, I'll give him that," he murmured. "But what the Master plans to do with him is beyond me." He sighed, turning towards the power striker's weapon, which lay against the wall. "It's strong," he mused. "It's not exactly short, either. Figured he'd put more power in a smaller weapon." It was fairly long for a starter's weapon, but the jagged tip was like a hammer; blunt spikes on one side, arced ones on the other. "Not the best magic channel, either. Though I wonder..."

His hand rushed forward and closed around the handle of the weapon, but no sooner had he raised it off the floor than it vanished in a whirl of coloured panels and a surge of earthen lightning. It reappeared in Terra's hand, and the power striker's eyes snapped open. Before he had a chance to struggle, the geared Key flared into the masked boy's hand; dark voltage surged to the head as he drove it into Terra's stomach, knocking him out again.

His weapon hit the ground, clattering, and the masked boy sighed, fading his own.

"Damn it." He sighed. "These cloaks... I thought static just had a boyfriend, but these other two... what's going on? The Master's hiding something from me. I need to get rid of them somehow... catch them off-guard. I need to... derail them."

He pounded the wall. "But how?"

The door slid open, revealing Larxene standing there. The masked boy turned and was about to demand an explanation when one of the hooded cloaks landed there with an abrupt and unprofessional _thud_.

"This kid's here to watch over your other prisoner," she stated as the cloak got to his feet. "Why don't you go piss off the lovebirds?"

"For the last time," the masked boy snapped, "they're not lovebirds!" He sighed. "Leave him here if you want. If earthstone wakes up, put him back to sleep. I don't care how you do it, just don't kill him."

He vanished in a flare of shadow.

The hooded cloak sighed. "Not the nicest guy, huh?"

+x+x+x+

Ven and Aqua made camp near the tree Axel had been hanging in.

Actually, 'making camp' was a nice way to put it. They hadn't brought any bedrolls, only pillows that were flat as possible, and their rations were not exactly things to be cooked. Basically, all they could do was curl up next to the tree and try to make themselves comfortable after Aqua had cast a protective spell over them.

Ventus kept squirming. He was not used to this at all. His mind was on overdrive, on everything the masked boy had done.

His Keyblade - changed, geared, sharp as hell.

Ven's Keyblade - light, backhand, strong.

The Wingblades - gone, and Fujin trapped to stop him.

His foe's dark wings - two in number, like some dark Seraph.

Ven's mind turned to Aqua. Her spellcasting was powerful, but somehow Ven had been able to call the same casts without even thinking about it. That wind spell - he had never seen Aqua use it, much less heard her incantation, but he had cast it by pure insinct.

And her weapon... the diamond-tipped casting blade. His mind raced through every time he had seen it - Aqua drawing it without it being there in the first place, the way it was never present when she didn't have it in hand, the ease with which she sent magic through it.

The way Ven could cast through his Keyblade, but not his Wingblades.

Then the night she had ambushed him on his way to Departure Temple; and suddenly, the memory was vivid in his mind, the swirling flare of light as the diamond-tipped blade appeared in her hand.

Ven shot to a sitting position in a rush.

"Aqua, you've got a _Keyblade__!_"

* * *

Draco: Yes, Rainfell and Earthshaker _are_ considered Keyblades. Helloooo! And damn it, FF doesn't acknowledge kanji!

Also, to anyone who might be reading this, I may or may not be considering kicking up a new fanfic on here. Has anyone heard of Rosario+Vampire? Please tell me the name's on this site.

Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


End file.
